Eduardo Sebrango scored his second goal of the match in the 87th minute to give the Vancouver Whitecaps a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC in Wednesday's Canadian Champions League contest at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, B.C.
Maurice Edu and Rohan Ricketts had second-half goals for Toronto, which for the second straight week saw its chances of winning the three-team competition harmed by underdog Vancouver.
The Whitecaps, who play in the United Soccer League's First Division — one step below Toronto's Major League Soccer — defeated Toronto 1-0 on Canada Day.
"Given that there was something at stake and we beat them in their own house, I think tensions were boiling over a little," Whitecaps captain Jeff Clarke said. "We're going to be happy with the performance but not the result. But when you're playing against a higher tier, they're going to make you pay."
Toronto now must beat the USL's Montreal Impact in the final match of the championship on July 22 at BMO Field (CBC Bold, CBCSports.ca, 7 p.m. ET) in order to advance to the preliminary round of the CONCACAF Champions League against Nicaraguan champions Real Esteli.
Montreal has six points heading into the final game while Toronto has four points, so a draw would give the championship to the Impact.
The Whitecaps also have four points, but are eliminated because they don't have any Champions League games remaining.
Spirited affair
The top team in the final standings of the round-robin home-and-home competition will be Canada's representative at the CONCACAF Champions League, an international club competition that crowns the best pro team in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
The CONCACAF Champions League winner will play at the FIFA World Club Championship in Japan in December 2009 against other continental champions.
Wednesday's match was a spirited affair, with animosity in the air after Toronto coach John Carver claimed that poor refereeing played a role in his team's Canada Day loss on its home field.
Carver was more charitable after Wednesday's chippy game, calling Carole Anne Chenard's refereeing "fantastic" and praising the quality of the rivalry between the two teams.
"Although it's five hours on an airplane, it was like a derby game," Carver said. "You can sense it out there. There was a rivalry between myself and their coach, and it's great. I love all that — especially when people bite."
No Dichio for Toronto
Perhaps roused by Tuesday's humbling defeat, in which Toronto started sluggishly, Carver's side dominated the first half on Wednesday.
The visitors, though, couldn't get one past Whitecaps keeper Jay Nolly, allowing Sebrango to draw first blood in the 43rd minute.
Teammate Justin Moose's drive from the top of the penalty area was stopped by Toronto keeper Greg Sutton, but the rebound went right back to the Vancouver midfielder, who slipped the ball to Sebrango for a shot that snuck inside the right post.
Edu replied in the 60th minute, getting his foot on a tipped ball in front of the goal to even the match at 1-1.
Ricketts put Toronto ahead in the 75 minute, streaking toward the goal to convert a feed from Amado Guevera.
Sebrango, though, refused to go away. Dribbling around Edu into the penalty area, the Vancouver striker eluded a challenge from Sutton to tuck the ball into an open cage for the tying goal in the dying minutes.
Toronto captain Jim Brennan sat out the game after earning his second yellow card of the competition in Toronto's loss to the Whitecaps, earning an automatic one-game suspension.
Toronto was also without top scorer Danny Dichio (concussion), and defenders Olivier Tebily and Todd Dunivant, both sidelined with ankle injuries.
