Impact draw Whitecaps in first leg of Canadian Championship final

Montreal scored twice within a minute to earn a 2-2 draw against the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final on Wednesday. Although the performance was not the best, the two away goals should be seen as a positive and placing them in a good position for the second leg at home. “So we’re going to put everything in it to try and win this championship”.

The Impact are the reigning two-time champions.

Montreal may use its top central defender Laurent Ciman, who missed the D.C. game with a suspension. Donadel placed his delivery at the penalty spot, where Ciman outjumped every other player to head the ball home.

Still, Klopas thought his team could have done better in the opening 45 minutes. The shots were 19-4 at the final whistle. “And we want it a lot”.

Because the Canadian Championship is a two-legged aggregate series, Vancouver has the advantage going into the second leg of the final because of its two away goals.

Montreal Impact’s Johan Venegas, right, challenges Vancouver… Goalkeeper Erik Kronberg did well to rush off his line and force Mattock out wide as the scoring chance went begging.

The second half started ominously with Christian Dean subbing in for an injured Diego Rodriguez (quad contusion….aka, a bruise).

Montreal Impact’s Anthony Jackson-Hamel, left, celebrates with…

Justin Mapp was greeted by a standing ovation when he entered the match for Montreal as a substitute in the 60th minute.

Like the Whitecaps’ fans watching the game, Carl Robinson was visibly frustrated by his squad’s inept play during the first half, as the team struggled to string together consecutive passes throughout. It was a quality finish from Mattocks, but Impact defender Wandrille Lefevre should have cleared the ball before it even got to the Jamaican worldwide.

Maybe undeserving, due to the poor play, the Whitecaps quickly doubled their lead in the 71 minute, thanks to a perfectly placed free kick by captain Morales. It was a magnificent strike by the Chilean, but Kronberg should have stopped it.

Ciman got the first goal back for the Impact with six minutes remaining on the clock, heading home a corner kick.

“We dropped a little too much after we scored”, said Whitecaps goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi, who could do very little to stop Jackson-Hamel from scoring his first career goal for the Impact.

“He’s a difference maker in the final third”, Klopas said of Mapp.

After last year’s Canadian Championship triumph, the Eastern Canadian outfit went on a remarkable run to the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League Final before falling defeat to Club America.

NOTES: The Canadian champion will receive the Voyageurs Cup trophy, which was originally funded and awarded by the Voyageurs, a Canadian soccer supporters group founded in 1996… A formal tournament was first held in 2008…

Meanwhile, the ‘Caps return to MLS action on Saturday with an important Western Conference tilt at Sporting Kansas City (6 p.m. PT kickoff on TSN2). But he also said there won’t be 11 changes and that centre back Kendall Waston, who is suspended for Saturday’s MLS match vs. SKC, would play.