Here are some storylines and other interesting tidbits to keep in mind ahead of Wednesday night’s contest between the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final.
Wednesday programming alert: Watch the Montreal Impact v the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final on Sportsnet ONE. Live coverage begins at 7:30 pm ET/4:30 pm PT.
Impact under pressure
On paper, it would appear the Impact have the advantage in this first leg contest.
While Montreal is fighting for first place in MLS’ Eastern Conference, the Whitecaps are in the bottom half of the Western Conference standings and only recently ended a seven-game winless skid.
But Wednesday will be Montreal’s seventh game in 22 days, including its third in this tournament, so fatigue may be a factor. And because the first leg of the two-game, home-and-home series is in Montreal, the Impact will be under added pressure to earn a positive result – the last thing they want to do is have to go to Vancouver in two weeks needing a win.
"Hopefully we have no goals against and we have a few goals in the bank but we have to be smart,” Montreal midfielder Patrice Bernier told the Canadian Press.
“We know that it’s a two-leg series so we don’t want to go there giving something that gives them a little bit more boost knowing that they have an away goal or something like that. We’re going to try to get the best result possible that puts us a little bit one step in the door in the second leg."
Teibert breaks out
Whitecaps midfielder Russell Teibert has long been touted as one of the brightest prospects in Canadian soccer, and he’s finally showing why.
Teibert, a 19-year-old native of Niagara Falls, scored the first two goals of his MLS career in Vancouver’s 3-1 win over the LA Galaxy on the weekend.
Teibert has struggled for playing time since making his Whitecaps debut in 2011, making only 15 league appearances over the last two campaigns. But he’s worked his way into the starting 11 this season with some sharp performances and appears to be in coach Martin Rennie’s plans going forward.
“He works hard and defended well like he always does. He made the difference with the goals. … It’s up to him if he can keep doing that consistently, that’s really the key” Rennie said of Teibert’s two-goal performance against LA.
The revenge factor
There’s some bad blood between the Impact and Whitecaps, dating back to the 2009 tournament when both sides competed in the NASL, one tier below MLS.
Back then, the Canadian competition was a three-team round-robin format. The Whitecaps sat in first place, with a three-point edge over Toronto FC, headed into the last game. Montreal hosted Toronto in the finale, and TFC needed to win by five goals to finish ahead of the Whitecaps.
The Impact were already eliminated and had nothing to play for, so they fielded their ‘B team,’ and TFC rolled to a 6-1 win in Montreal, thus giving the title to the Reds. This didn’t sit too well with the Whitecaps, who watched the action unfold in Montreal – they were already in town as they were slated to play the Impact in NASL action later in the week.
The Whitecaps have never forgotten how the Impact rolled over, allowing TFC to wrestle the championship from them. Now it’s time for the Whitecaps to exact revenge.
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Say what?
"Playing the first leg at home changes things for us. Our mentality should be the same as when we played Toronto at home (in the semifinals). The fire, the passion, going forward with conviction, that’s what we’ll have to do, especially against a team like Vancouver where the longer you keep them in it, the more they can punish you.” – Impact defender Jeb Brovsky told the team’s official website.
"It is a very big game, Canadian championship, and we do want to be the best team in Canada. So we need to take (the win over L.A.) forward and build off it. Everybody on our team wants to dedicate (a Canadian title) to our club and our fans. We do owe it to them." – Whitecaps midfielder Russell Teibert told the Canadian Press.
Injury report
Montreal will be missing defenders Alessandro Nesta (groin strain), Nelson Rivas (knee) and strikers Daniele Paponi (hamstring strain) and Andrea Pisanu (quad strain). Midfielder Davy Arnaud is questionable (concussion-like symptoms).
Vancouver will be without captain Jay DeMerit (out indefinitely with a ruptured Achilles tendon), and forwards Kenny Miller and Omar Salgado, and midfielders Camilo and Daigo Kobayashi did not make the trip in order to recuperate from their respective injuries.
Facts and stats
— Vancouver leads the Canadian championship series over Montreal with three wins, three draws and two losses since 2008.
— The Impact are undefeated in six home games this season, with five wins and one draw (including one win in this tournament).
— Montreal striker Marco Di Vaio needs one goal to tie the record for most goals in a single tournament, held by Dwayne De Rosario (2009) and Maicon Santos (2011) with three.
— The Whitecaps have never won this tournament, having finished runners-up to Toronto the last four years.
— The Impact won the inaugural competition in 2008.
— The winner of this competition will represent Canada in the 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League.
What’s next
The second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final goes May 29 in Vancouver. Before then, the Whitecaps host the Portland Timbers (May 18) in MLS, while the Impact host the Philadelphia Union (May 25) in league play
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