VANCOUVER — Will Johnson scored a goal late in extra time as Toronto FC snatched the Voyageurs Cup out of the Vancouver Whitecaps' hands Wednesday night.
The game ended with Vancouver ahead 2-1. But the two-game, aggregate Amway Canadian Champion series ended in a 2-2 draw with Toronto winning the Voyageurs Cup due to its away goal.
The series was decided when Toronto's Tsubasa Endoh sent a ball into the box. Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted went to handle the ball but collided with defender Kendall Waston. The loose ball rolled to Johnson who put it in the end.
Defender Tim Parker, in the 68th minute, and midfielder Nicolas Mezquida, in the 47th minute had given Vancouver a 2-0 lead. The crowd of 19,376 at BC Place Stadium were on their feet convinced the Whitecaps would defend the title they won last year.
Toronto opened the final with a 1-0 win at BMO Field on June 21. Forward Sebastian Giovinco scored the goal in the 43rd minute.
Parker thrilled the crowd with a goal that started on an innocent looking play. Midfielder Matias Laba lofted a long ball into the box. A streaking Parker took the ball off his chest, then fired a left-footed shot past Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono.
Mezquida put Vancouver on the board in the 47th minute. Just minutes after subbing in for the injured Russell Teibert, he took a cross from defender Jordan Harvey and headed the ball into the net past Bono's outstretched fingers.
The score was 0-0 at half time but the Whitecaps had several good scoring chances.
The best came in the 40th minute when Laba found the ball at his feet in the box and blasted a shot. Bono made a diving stop.
In the 38th minute midfielder Kekuta Manneh put a ball into the box that Christian Bolanos tried to flick with his foot but the ball went wide. Manneh was alone in front of the net in the 25th minute but his hard shot sailed over the crossbar.
Giovinco had two good chances for the Reds.
Waston earned a yellow card for a hard foul on the Italian in the 33rd minute. Giovinco took the free kick and curved a ball that Ousted managed to stop.
In the 10th minute, Giovinco finished a long run with a low, hard shot that just missed the goal.
The Whitecaps advanced to the final with a 3-2 aggregate victory over the Ottawa Fury. The Whitecaps lost the opening game 2-0 in Ottawa but demolished the Fury at home at week later.
Toronto opened their semifinal series against Montreal with a 4-2 home victory, then settled for a 0-0 draw on the road.
Toronto played without goalkeeper Clint Irwin who will be out six weeks with a quadriceps strain suffered last weekend.
NOTES: Teibert, who was playing in his 17th Canadian championship game, more than any other player, left at halftime with a right quad strain. … Vancouver and Toronto have met twice before in the Canadian championship final, with the Reds winning in 2011 and 2012. … Backup goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi had played in both legs of Vancouver's semifinal victory over Ottawa. … Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson played three seasons in Toronto.
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