It was a battle of the young Canadian 鈥榢eepers Wednesday as the Vancouver Whitecaps blanked Pacific FC 1-0 in Canadian Championship semifinal action.
The Major League Soccer side now holds the lead in the two-game aggregate series, with Canadian Premier League鈥檚 Pacific set to visit Vancouver for the second leg on Aug. 27.
Wednesday鈥檚 lone goal came in the 58th minute when Mathias Laborda sent a long cross into the penalty area, and Ryan Gauld leapt up to flick a glancing header into the back of the Pacific net.
Vancouver 鈥榢eeper Isaac Boehmer preserved the victory with a series of saves as Pacific made a late push.
鈥淲e never thought it was going to be easy. But we just came, we did what we needed to do and we鈥檙e ready for the second leg,鈥� said the 22-year-old Boehmer, who stopped all-five on-target shots he faced to collect his first clean sheet for the 鈥楥aps.
At the other end of the field, Pacific鈥檚 Emil Gazdov made four saves, including a highlight-reel-worthy effort in the 49th minute.
Brian White sent a blistering header in from the top of the six-yard box, only to see the 20-year-old netminder dive sideways and poke the ball out of harm鈥檚 way. The American striker appeared to respond with disbelief, simply shaking his head in response.
Gazdov was circumspect about the play.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to say it鈥檚 routine, but I do it a lot in training. Just reading the situation 鈥� ball comes across, header, react. Not much to really say about it,鈥� he said. 鈥淗appy I got a finger on it to get it around the post.鈥�
Vancouver comes into the tournament having hoisted the Voyageurs Cup in both 2022 and 2023, but this year鈥檚 campaign hasn鈥檛 been smooth.
The 鈥楥aps faced Cavalry FC of the CPL in the quarterfinals and advanced on away goals after Cavalry took a 1-0 victory in the second leg to tie the aggregate score at 2-2.
Pacific earned a spot in the semifinals with a 2-1 aggregate win over fellow CPL team Atletico Ottawa.
The tournament鈥檚 other semifinal Wednesday saw CPL side Forge FC upset struggling MLS club Toronto FC with a 2-1 scoreline.
Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini referenced the result in his pre-game speech.
鈥淚 used that as motivation,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 used that game and also the second leg that played Vancouver against Cavalry when, to be honest, our performance was so bad that we were at risk to get out (of the quarterfinals).鈥�
This year marks the third time Pacific and the Whitecaps have faced off in the annual tournament.
The first matchup saw Pacific stun Vancouver 4-3 in preliminary-round action back in 2021. The 鈥楥aps went on to take a 3-0 victory in the semifinals last year.
Both teams return to league play this weekend, with the Whitecaps visiting St. Louis City and Pacific heading to Hamilton to face Forge.
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