Whitecaps through to CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals
By The Canadian Press on March 15, 2023.
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – The Vancouver Whitecaps are through to the quarterfinals in CONCACAF Champions League play after completing a 7-3 aggregate win over Honduran side Real CD Espana. Espana battled its way to a 3-2 victory in the second leg of a round-of-16 series at Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on Wednesday. Getsel Montes had a brace and Ramiro Rocca added a goal for the home side, while Brian White and Simon Becher each scored for Vancouver. Thomas Hasal made seven saves for the ‘Caps and Espana’s Luis Lopez stopped two on-target shots. The Whitecaps came into the game up 5-0 after a decisive first-leg win at B.C. Place on March 8. The ‘Caps will face either Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC or Costa Rican side Liga Deportiva Alajuelense in the quarterfinals of the tournament between the top clubs in North America, Central America and the Caribbean next month. LAFC, the reigning MLS champions, held a 3-0 aggregate lead over Alajuelense heading into the second leg of their series Wednesday. Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini made ample changes to his lineup heading into Wednesday’s game, swapping out eight players who started in a 1-1 draw against FC Dallas in MLS play on Saturday. The changes included giving Canadian Hasal his first start of the season and replacing White with Sergio Cordova. Wednesday’s game marked Vancouver’s fourth of five matches in 14 days. Espana heavily outchanced the ‘Caps in Honduras, putting up 10 on-target shots against Vancouver’s four. Montes put away his second goal of the game in the 86th minute, heading a shot in past Hasal off a corner. Becher knotted the score at 2-2 in the 83rd minute, working his way around an Espana defender before finding room between Lopez and the post for his first goal in CONCACAF Champions League play. Rocca gave Espana its first lead in the 75th minute, sending a shot into the corner of the net off a cross. The Honduran club tied things up at 1-1 in the 68th minute after a rebound dropped in traffic and Montes popped it in past Hasal. Two minutes earlier, Whitecaps defender Javain Brown fought his way through a series of Espana defenders and dished the ball to White at the top of the penalty area. The American striker – who came off the bench in the 61st minute – fired a shot in past Lopez to break the goalless drought with his second of the tournament in the 66th minute. Espana was the dominant side across the first half, outshooting the visitors 11-3 and putting eight of those shots on target. Hasal came up big in the 45th minute with a stellar diving stop when Jose Reyes blasted a shot at the Vancouver net from the middle of the penalty area. Referee Marco Ortiz gifted Espana a prime opportunity in the 34th minute when he called for an indirect free kick, saying Hasal had held the ball for too long. Jhow Benavidez sent a shot into the wall before Reyes collected the ball and sent it out of play. The ‘Caps had two on-target shots across the first half, including in the 24th minute. Pedro Vite hit Espana’s wall on a free kick and the ball popped free to Cordova, who fired a quick shot on net. Defender Carlos Meija cleared the ball off the goal line before the visitors could take a 1-0 lead. Vancouver nearly put a shot away in the eighth minute, too, when Cristian Dajome sent a ball through the legs of an Espana defender, waltzed around his check, and slipped a pass to Vite. The Ecuadorean forward unleashed a rocket that ricocheted off the far post. The home side looked dangerous on set plays across the first half, beginning in just the fourth minute when Reyes took the first corner kick of the game. He swung a ball into Devron Garcia, who headed a shot on goal only to see Hasal punch the ball away. The Whitecaps will return to MLS play Saturday when they visit the L.A. Galaxy. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2023. 29-28
