VANCOUVER, BC – It was a tightly-contested match at BC Place as Vancouver Whitecaps FC progressed to the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship, despite a 1-0 loss on the night to Cavalry FC.
Cyprian Kachwele, making his first start for the club, had a fantastic opportunity to open the scoring in the 12th minute. Levonte Johnson slipped Kachwele into the box from the left and the Tanzanian tried to score from a narrow angle, thwarted only by the diving hand of Marco Carducci for a corner.
Boehmer was called into action in the 30th minute, stopping a dangerous shot from William Akio. A long cross to the back post found Akio alone, but Boehmer made himself big to close him down.
Cavalry then opened the scoring though an own goal. Akio drove a dangerous cross into the box and, in trying to clear the ball before it reached a Cavalry player, Veselinović poked the ball past Boehmer and into the net.
The second half then began with the ‘Caps hungry for a goal. Both Guiseppe Bovalina and Ryan Gauld put dangerous crosses into the box in the opening minute, only for Cavalry to make a last-ditch clearance to deny a tap-in goal. Johnson then threatened Carducci’s goal with a curled effort from just outside the box, getting deflected on the way for a corner.
Ali Ahmed nearly levelled the affair with just over 30 minutes left, after beautiful play in the build-up. Gauld flicked on a header for Brian White to settle it, laying it off in the process for Ahmed to thump a shot towards goal. The shot was goal-bound had it not been for a late block from a Cavalry defender. Another block denied Bovalina from a debut goal just minutes later, after the Aussie was found in the box by Ahmed.
Minutes later, Alessandro Schöpf forced Carducci to go full-stretch off a very well placed driven shot, piling the pressure on Cavalry.
Pedro Vite then sent Ryan Raposo in behind with a beautiful pass with 15 minutes to go. Raposo got the ball under control in stride but was closed down quickly by an onrushing Carducci.
Jesse Daley had a chance to get his side in front on aggregate minutes later, after being found in the box. Daley managed to turn and get a shot on target, but was denied by a superb Boehmer save.
LuÃs Martins almost got Whitecaps FC back on level terms right at the end, with a header off a corner kick. A short corner routine saw Gauld find Martins at the back post, but his effort on goal was swallowed up by Carducci.
That would be the last major chance of the game as the referee blew his final whistle.
Whitecaps FC now turn their attention to hosting Inter Miami CF in front of more than 50,000 fans at BC Place this coming Saturday, May 25, presented by University Canada West. The Street Party presented by TELUS will start at 3 p.m. PT, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. PT. For more information on tickets to all Whitecaps FC home matches, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
Attendance: 11,853
Referee: Mathieu Souaré
Scoring Summary
32’ – CAV – Ranko Veselinović (own goal)
Statistics
Possession: VAN 56% – CAV 44%
Shots: VAN 15 – CAV 8
Shots on Goal: VAN 5 – CAV 4
Saves: VAN 5 – CAV 4
Fouls: VAN 11 – CAV 12
Offsides: VAN 5 – CAV 1
Corners: VAN 9 – CAV 2
Cautions
8’ – CAV – Jesse Daley
22’ – VAN – Pedro Vite
44’ – CAV – Charlie Trafford
45’ – VAN – Ali Ahmed
59’ – CAV – Daan Klomp
60’ – CAV – Sergio Camargo
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
32.Isaac Boehmer; 2.MathÃas Laborda (25.Ryan Gauld HT), 4.Ranko Veselinović ©, 15.Bjørn Inge Utvik; 22.Ali Ahmed, 16.Sebastian Berhalter (8.Alessandro Schöpf 61’), 45.Pedro Vite, 14.LuÃs Martins; 27.Giuseppe Bovalina (13.Ralph Priso 77’), 55.Cyprian Kachwele (24.Brian White HT), 28.Levonte Johnson (7.Ryan Raposo 61’)
Substitutes not used
1.Yohei Takaoka, 12.Belal Halbouni
Cavalry FC
1.Marco Carducci; 33.Fraser Aird, 4.Daan Klomp, 3.Callum Montgomery, 5.Bradley Kamdem; 8.Jesse Daley (20.Lucas Dias 88’), 6.Charlie Trafford (24.Erik Kobza 88’); 11.Lleyton Brooks (9.Tobias Warschewski), 10.Sergio Camargo (27.Diego GutÃerrez 66’), 19.William Akio (7.Ali Musse 66’), 14.Malcom Shaw
Substitutes not used
21.Jack Barrett, 12.Tom Field
