By Vijay Setlur
MONTREAL - Vancouver Whitecaps FC moved closer to clinching its first CONCACAF Champions League berth, staving off late pressure to hold host Montreal Impact to a scoreless draw Wednesday in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship (ACC) final.
Despite scoring six goals at home against Toronto FC in the semifinal, second leg, the Impact could not repeat that extraordinary output again in front of the home supporters at Stade Saputo..
Vancouver's stingy defense, coupled with solid positioning by goalkeeper Brad Knighton, denied the Impact and set the stage for a May 29 winner-take-all showdown at B.C. Place in Vancouver.
"I thought we put in a great performance defensively as a team," Knighton told Sportsnet after the match. "That's what it's all about in Cup finals, it's about working together as a team and grinding out a result and we got it nil-nil going back to our place."
Montreal reached the final after downing defending four-time champion Toronto FC 6-2 on aggregate in one semifinal, while the Whitecaps got past FC Edmonton 5-2 of the North American Soccer League in the other.
The four-team tournament for the Voyageurs Cup sends Canada's lone entrant to the CONCACAF Champions League.
Both teams started tentatively attempting to get a feel for the slick pitch.
Despite their struggles away in Major League Soccer, the Whitecaps controlled the play for most of the opening half, frustrating Montreal into three cautions courtesy of referee Silviu Petrescu.
Alain Rochat accounted for Vancouver's best scoring opportunities with two great chances within a two-minute span. In the 32nd minute, he jumped on a turnover deep in the Montreal end and sent a drive that was turned aside by goalkeeper Evan Bush. A minute later, he headed a corner on goal, but Montreal midfielder Justin Mapp prevented a sure goal clearing the ball off the goal line.
It was Montreal, though, that nearly opened the scoring on two solid chances of its own, with the first in the 19th minute by striker Marco di Vaio.
The Italian took a long forward pass from defender Hassoun Camara, turned and attempted to curl a strike inside the post, but goalkeeper Brad Knighton dove to turn the ball aside.
Then, two minutes later, Canadian international Patrice Bernier sent a low drive off a loose ball just wide of the post.
Impact coach Marco Schallibaum tried to inject creativity and life into his offense with a number of second-half substitutions, but couldn't generate any solid chances.
A 75th minute shot by di Vaio, that didn't even reach goal thanks to a block by Whitecaps defender Andy O'Brien, was the closest the Impact would come to a game winner.
"A bit disappointed, we pushed, we pushed, we played very offensive," said Bernier. "I think we had most of the possession and pushed at the goal, but they put out a wall and they prevented us from scoring, but there's still a second leg and an away goal counts for double."
Montreal won the Canadian title in 2008 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League before falling to Mexico's Santos Laguna in a memorable second leg.
Vancouver, looking for its first Canadian crown and Champions League berth, has finished runner-up to Toronto FC the last four years.
"We've struggled on the road and this is a great performance collectively as a team," said Knighton. "We've tried to make B.C. Place a fortress for ourselves and we've got it all to play for come May 29."
