#1: Canadian Championship Revenge
Opponent: Toronto FC
Date: Saturday March 18th, 2017
Location: BC Place, Vancouver, BC
Last season:
Toronto FC 3-4 Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS Regular Season)
Toronto FC 1-0 Vancouver Whitecaps (Canadian Championship Final 1st Leg)
Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 Toronto FC (Canadian Championship Final 2nd Leg)
These two teams have history. Matches against a fellow Canadian team are always special, but you can expect this one to have a little more sting. The Whitecaps welcome MLS Cup finalists TFC to BC Place only three weeks into the season.
Last season’s matches against TFC were pivotal moments in the Whitecaps’ season. First was the 4-3 league win, Vancouver’s first ever win at BMO Field. In a see-saw contest, David Ousted saved a penalty and Fraser Aird was red-carded. The Whitecaps were flying high with their third straight win in the space of a week.
A month later, the two teams clashed in a home-and-away series for the Canadian Championship final. In the second leg at BC Place, the ‘Caps had overturned a 1-0 first leg defeat and were seconds away from lifting the title when disaster struck. In the fifth minute of four minutes of added time, Ousted and Kendall Waston collided while trying to clear a long ball. Will Johnson turned the loose ball into the net and snatched the cup for TFC on away goals.
The fans and the players were devastated. The Whitecaps players dealt with the psychological fallout of that moment for the rest of the season. You can be sure that they’ll remember it next time TFC come to town, which should give some spice to this encounter.