The Vancouver Whitecaps captured the Canadian Championship for the first time since 2015, beating Toronto FC, 5-3 on penalties Tuesday night at BC Place after the teams played to a 1-1 draw through 90 minutes.
The Whitecaps converted all five of their shootout attempts, with Tristan Blackmon clinching the Voyageurs Cup and a spot in the 2023 Concacaf Champions League in the fifth round.
The decisive penalty set off a wild celebration from the 24,307 at BC Place with Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini stripping off his shirt and waving it above his head.
Jonathan Osorio was the lone player for either team to not convert, putting his attempt in the third round off the left post.
In a strange twist, Toronto FC were vying for a second Voyageurs Cup in less than two months after beating Forge FC on penalties to claim the 2020 championship delayed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
But it is Vancouver to win the title for the second time in club history and join Mexico’s Atlas, Tigres UANL, Club Leon and Pachuca in next year’s CCL, as well as Violette after the Haitian club won the 2022 Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship in the 16-team 2023 CCL.
In advance of the final, Toronto FC head coach Bob Bradley singled out Ryan Gauld as a danger man for the Whitecaps and that was proven emphatically inside of 20 minutes when the Scottish DP intercepted a headed clearance and whipped a ball to the far post. Brian White did the rest, heading in off the hands of Alex Bono to put the hosts in front in the 19th minute.
