Striker Ali Gerba tied the series when he scored on a penalty at the 83rd minute of play. After being fouled in the 18-yard box by defender Alain Rochat, Gerba was successful on the penalty, beating goalkeeper Jay Nolly on a high shot.
Then at the 113th minute, Whitecaps defender Mouloud Akloul scored the winning goal. On the play, Rochat hit a free kick from 18 yards out that was stopped by Gaudette with the hand, but Akloul jumped on the rebound to score in an open cage.
“It was a very exciting game,” said Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos. “I am very proud of our group of players. They are men who want to win and who have ambition. We get out of Vancouver with our heads up. We have sent a message that we will be a strong team in MLS next year.”
In extra time, the Impact got two scoring chances when the ball hit the post twice. At the 110th minute, defender Greg Janicki deflected a cross from Philippe Billy on the right post of Jay Nolly. And in the last seconds of the game, Ali Gerba hit the post to the left of Nolly on a diving header following a cross from Anthony Le Gall.
“It’s tough to accept because we were not lucky,” said Ali Gerba. “In soccer, it can go either way. The Whitecaps defenders did a good job marking us tonight, but we got this great chance at the end. It’s unfortunate because we did well tonight.”
“It was a very long 90 minutes of play. We played well defensively to keep ourselves into the game. We then played desperately in the last 15 minutes of play, which led to the penalty,” added Impact team captain Nevio Pizzolitto. “It was a good fight and a really tight game. I’m proud of the guys tonight.”
In the first half, the Whitecaps rushed the Montreal zone several times, shooting 12 times against two for the Impact, but couldn’t amount to anything around the Montreal net.
In the second half, Whitecaps midfielder Russell Teibert had two scoring opportunities. At the 51st minute, Teibert hit a point blank shot from 30 meters out that went to the right of the Impact net. Then at the 64th minute, he dribbled on several meters and took a low shot entering the 18-yard box that went to the right once again.
Gerba came close to score the winning goal at the 90th minute. After beating defender Greg Janicky, Jay Nolly stopped Gerba’s low shot with his feet.
Goalkeeper Bill Gaudette faced a total of 24 shots. He notably made a key save in the 94th minute when he dove to his left to stop a shot from Terry Dunfield.
The Whitecaps will now meet Toronto FC in the championship final, after Toronto defeated FC Edmonton 1-0 on Wednesday at BMO Field, winning 4-0 on aggregates. Both clubs will matchup for a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League.
The Impact will play its next game against Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, Dwayne De Rosario, Greg Sutton and the New York Red Bulls at Saputo Stadium on May 11 at 7:30 pm. Excellent tickets are still available for the game, starting at $20, through Admission Network (admission.com / 514-790-1245) or at the Saputo Stadium ticketing office.
THREE UPCOMING GAMES
• Wednesday, May 11 – New York Red Bulls @ IMPACT –Saputo Stadium – 7:30pm (CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, radio-canada.ca/sports)
• Saturday, May 14 – Carolina RailHawks @ IMPACT – Saputo Stadium – 2:30 (Radio-Canada, CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, radio-canada.ca/sports)
• Saturday, May 21 – IMPACT @ FC Tampa Bay – Al Lang Stadium – 7pm (fctampabay.com)
Friendly game
PÉPÉ’S PHOTOS IN VANCOUVER
GAME SUMMARY
Tweet
