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FC Wins Canadian Club Title
Toronto’s Mikael Yourassowsky scored in the 61st minute giving Toronto FC a solid 2-1 victory over the Whitecaps in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship in Toronto and played in front of 18,212 spectators at BMO Field
This match was a replay. The May 25 game at BMO Field was abandoned because of weather after 60 minutes with Vancouver leading 1-0. The teams started over Saturday. The first leg played May 18 at Vancouver was a 1-1 tie.
Toronto “keeper” Stefan Frei stated “It feels amazing and it’s something I would love to get used to.”
Yourassowsky’s goal was his first for Toronto FC, which went on to win the two-leg final 3-2 on aggregate and captured the Voyageurs Cup for the third (3rd) straight year.
Sanvezzo scored for Vancouver from a free kick in the first half and Toronto’s Joao Plata (also set up the winner) tied it on a second-half penalty.
Whitecap’s Head Coach Tom Shehn stated “his team got away its game plan after it scored”. He continued “we played on our heels instead of doing the things that got us to where we were”.
Vancouver midfielder Terry Dunfield told the reporters “It was disappointing to lose in the fashion we did, going up 1-0. With so much at stake, this is where players need to step up and do it and some of us were left lying”.
The winner of that round will advance to the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League group stage.
Saturday’s victory capped a good week for Toronto.
Before Wednesday’s game against Vancouver, the team announced the signings of two designated players, midfielder Torsten Frings and forward Danny Koevermans although neither will be able to play until later in the month.
“Wednesday was really good for us,” Frei said. “We got the win which gave us the confidence but also we knew there was a positive vibe with the two new guys coming in.
“That gave us some confidence, so going down a goal that really didn’t hurt us too much.”
On the other hand, the two losses made for a tough week for Soehn and the Whitecaps.
After Toronto took the lead, Vancouver wasn’t done and Frei had to stop Sanvezzo’s try from the left side in the 76th minute.
A few minutes later, Frei alertly came out to pick-up a loose ball with a Whitecaps player in the area. Eric Hassli then put a shot wide left in the 86th minute, which might have changed the outcome.
Plata tied the game in the 51st minute, tucking a penalty into the lower left corner when awarded a retake after goalkeeper Joe Cannon stopped his first attempt.
The penalty was awarded after Jonathan Leathers fouled Plata in the area in the 48th minute.
After he was fouled by defender Ty Harden, Sanvezzo scored for Vancouver in the 21st minute with a right-footed free kick into the top right corner.
Toronto stormed the Vancouver goal five minutes later as Julian de Guzman, who has been out with a calf injury, had a shot blocked and then hit the post.
Plata had an attempt from the centre of the box cleared from the line and goalkeeper Cannon stopped Nick Soolsma who fired from the right of the goal.
Toronto capitalized when Cannon was caught out of his goal in the 41st minute. Martina directed a slow shot toward the open goal but defender Jay DeMerit appeared to save it when he got his left foot on the ball at the line.
However, television replays showed the ball had crossed the line when DeMerit got to it.