By Pat Hickey
A goal by defender Luca Bellisomo in stoppage time gave the Vancouver Whitecaps a shocking 2-1 victory over the Impact Wednesday night at Saputo Stadium.
The Impact dominated the first half but was only able to score one goal and that left the door open for the visitors.
"We didn't finish our chances in the first half and it came back to bite us," said Tony Donatelli, whose goal in the third minute gave the Impact a 1-0 lead.
The local side let the Whitecaps hang around long enough to score the tying goal in the 66th minute. Greg Jasnicki was given enough room in the box to turn and beat Srdjan Djekanovic.
"We made some adjustments in the second half and took some chances," said Vancouver coach Teitur Thordarson. "We have some injuries and a suspension and we started the game with one striker. We moved a midfielder up in the second half and put more pressure on them. Even when we tied the game, we weren't satisfied. We kept pushing for the win."
The result was what Thordarson called a "top-level" goal for Bellisono, who took a cross from Martin Nash at the top of the box and one-timed past Srdjan Djekanovic.
"The cross was a little short and I just shot it as quickly as I could," said Bellisomo.
The win allowed the Whitecaps to open a seven-point edge over the second-place Impact in the NASL Conference of the United States Soccer Federation Division-2.
"It's disappointing because it's a game we should have won 3-nil or 4-nil and we would have been one point behind in the standings and instead we're seven behind a team that isn't better than us," said Impact coach Marc Dos Santos.
The Impact did have two chances to regain the lead but Vancouver goalkeeper Jay Nolly made a save on Peter Byers off a setup by Phillippe Billy in the 68th minute. Roberto Brown did put the ball in the net moments later but he was ruled offside on the play.
The Impact isn't known for its quick starts but Donatelli scored in the third minute off a set piece. Leonardo DiLorenzo put a free kick into the box and DiLorenzo directed a header past Nolly.
The only surprise in the first half was that Impact was unable to score more goals, but they played an aggressive offensive game, using long passes to put pressure on the Whitecaps.
Brown was wide with a header in the ninth minute and DiLorenzo put a shot over the crossbar in the 12th minute.
Vancouver almost handed the Impact a gift in the 13th minute when there was a miss-communication between Nolly and Janicki. Nolly came out to play a ball and was surprised when Janicki headed the ball toward the goal. The ball was a foot from the goalline when Nolly caught up with it and kicked it out of bounds.
Byers had an empty net on the end of an odd-man rush but fired wide in the 28th minute while Nolly stuck out his leg to stop Donatelli in the 40th minute.
The Impact lost David Testo in the 24th minute when he was involved in knee-to-knee contact and suffered a charley horse.
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