Match Report:

By Simon Fudge/whitecapsfc.com

Vancouver Whitecaps men suffered a 2-0 away defeat to Montreal Impact in their opening game of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship on Tuesday evening.

First-half strikes by Severino Jefferson and former Whitecaps striker Joey Gjertsen earned Montreal their first three points in the three-club competition, which also includes Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. Where the first half belonged to the Quebec hosts, Vancouver responded well in the second half, with Jason Jordan causing particular problems after the break. However, fine goalkeeping from the Impact's Matt Jordan made sure most of the 10,055 fans at Saputo Stadium went home happy.

Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson made two changes to the side that started last Friday's 3-0 USL First Division defeat at Rochester Rhinos. Nick Webb made his first-ever start for Vancouver, as he replaced Eduardo Sebrango to partner goalscorer Jason Jordan in attack. Also returning for his first start in seven games was Japanese import Takashi Hirano, as he replaced Diaz Kambere at left fullback.

Impact head coach John Limniatis, meanwhile, made three changes to the side that defeated in-form USL-1 side Charleston Battery 1-0 last Friday. Nevio Pizzolitto replaced the suspended Stefano Pesoli in the Montreal backline, while former Whitecaps man David Testo replaced the Bolivian Pato Aguilera in midfield. Brazilian forward Jefferson took the place of another former Whitecaps player in Charles Gbeke in the home side's attack.

In windy conditions at Saputo Stadium, it was Montreal that picked up from last week's morale-boosting win by putting in a fine first-half performance against the visiting Whitecaps. On four minutes, Rocco Placentino was unlucky not to latch on to Gjertsen's cross at the near post before Jason Jordan struck a shot high over the Montreal crossbar.

Moments later, the dangerous Jefferson was pulled down in the Whitecaps box by a Vancouver defender, and with Montreal fans calling for a penalty, referee Silviu Petrescu waved play on before Impact captain Mauro Biello brought a simple save from Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly.

Montreal looked in control of the possession and play, with Placentino striking a free kick over Nolly's crossbar on the quarter-hour mark before Adam Braz forced another save from Nolly five minutes later. The Impact pressure proved telling on the Vancouver defenders, as centre back Omar Jarun was booked on 23 minutes for fouling the skilful Placentino.

Two minutes later, Montreal scored just their second goal in their brand-new stadium, and from a fortunate set of circumstances. Gjertsen's ball into the Whitecaps box saw Jarun's attempted clearance strike Jefferson in the knee before the ball found the back of Nolly's net for 1-0.

Jefferson was causing the visitors problems, with the South American striker justifying his inclusion to the impact's starting XI by shooting just wide on 28 minutes before the Whitecaps responded with a hard shot from Alfredo Valente that forced a good save from Matt Jordan on the half-hour mark.

Then after the Montreal shot-stopper caught Nick Webb's header at goal, Matt Jordan's clearance out to Biello saw him head the other way on the counter-attack. The midfielder then played a fine through ball to an unmarked Gjertsen on the right side before the 2006 USL-1 Most Valuable Player took his time to hit a strike into the bottom left-hand corner of Nolly's goal for a 2-0 lead on 35 minutes.

The second goal – especially from a former Whitecaps player – was a blow to Vancouver's hopes of turning things around, though Jason Jordan had a tremendous chance to pull a goal back a minute before the break, but Matt Jordan was equal to his strike with a diving save, as the Impact took a two-goal lead into halftime.

Thordarson felt another slow start in Tuesday's game proved costly. "The game was really disappointing, though I felt we struggled in the first half," he told whitecapsfc.com. "We are a good team, but we have to be aware that we cannot allow ourselves to not be there from the first minute. We didn't start as we wanted to, and we gave Montreal the initiative to take the game to us."

The second half saw Tony Donatelli replace Nick Webb for the game's restart, but it was Gjertsen that tested Nolly with a long-range shot on 50 minutes before he was replaced by another former Vancouver player in Sita-Taty Matondo moments later.

The Whitecaps were then awarded a free kick on 53 minutes after Testo fouled Jason Jordan, but Valente wasted the chance by striking his free kick high and wide of the target.

Then in an attempt to create more Whitecaps chances in the second half, Hirano moved into the left-hand side of midfield after Valente was replaced by Diaz Kambere, who slotted in a left fullback. On 64 minutes, Matt Jordan was forced to punch away Justin Moose's swerving strike before Jason Jordan had two chances to claim a goal back for the visitors.

After squandering an opportunity from a tight angle, excellent goalkeeping from Matt Jordan saw the Montreal number one time his onrushing challenge to perfection, as he bravely saved the Vancouver attacker's shot with his face on 66 minutes. "Steve Kindel played a great ball through to me, and I thought that their goalkeeper was going to drop down to my feet to claim the ball," Jason Jordan said of the chance. "I tried to put the ball over his shoulder, but instead, I struck him right in the face, so it ended up being a great save. We played very well in the second half, but we just needed one goal to come back and get into it. If we got one goal, then we might have got two goals. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find the back of the net. In a short tournament like this, you have to take your chances, so the next three games are very important. We almost have to win them all now."

Vancouver's last chance came in time added on, but Kindel was unable to hit the target after Martin Nash played a free kick into the Montreal box, as the Impact celebrated a valuable second win in their new home.


Despite suffering a second defeat in this recent two-game road trip, Thordarson took heart from his side's display in the second 45 minutes in Montreal. "I felt we controlled the game totally in the second half," he said. "First of all, our focus was to get the shape right on the pitch because I didn't feel we worked hard enough to get the shape right in the first half. At the same time, I was also focusing on getting the ball out to our wingers because every time we were able to bring the wingers into play, we were very dangerous. I felt we did all these things well after halftime, and I had the same feeling tonight as I did when we turned things around against Portland. The only difference was that we didn't score any goals tonight."

The result leaves the Whitecaps in need of claiming a result in the reverse fixture against the Impact on Wednesday, June 25, at Swangard Stadium. That will be followed by two games with Toronto FC on Canada Day (Tuesday, July 1) at BMO Field and back home at Swangard on Wednesday, July 9. The final Nutrilite Canadian Championship game between Toronto and Montreal at BMO Field takes place on Tuesday, July 22. The top side in the three-club competition will claim the Voyageurs Cup as the inaugural winner of the competition and advance to the preliminary round stage of the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League, where they will face the club champions from Nicaragua in a two-leg tie in late August and early September.

Next up for the Whitecaps is a return to USL-1 action on Sunday night at Swangard, as Vancouver host Miami FC Blues in the second game of a doubleheader, with the Whitecaps women hosting the undefeated Pali Blues in the day's first game. The Impact, meanwhile, have an important league meeting with the struggling Carolina RailHawks at Saputo Stadium on Sunday afternoon in their next match.

Goal Summaries:
25 - MON - Severino Jefferson
Joey Gjertsen's ball into the Whitecaps box saw Whitecaps defender Omar Jarun make an attempted clearance, but the ball struck Jefferson in the knee before finding the back of Vancouver's net.

35 - MON - Joey Gjertsen (Mauro Biello)
Impact goalkeeper Matt Jordan made a clearance out to captain Mauro Biello, which set off a Montreal counter-attack. The midfielder then played a fine through ball to an unmarked Gjertsen on the right side before the former Whitecaps player took his time to hit a strike into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal for a 2-0 lead.

Match Stats:
Shots: Vancouver 12 – Montreal 10
Saves: Vancouver 3 – Montreal 7
Fouls: Vancouver 15 – Montreal 13
Offsides: Vancouver 3 – Montreal 4
Corners: Vancouver 10 – Montreal 2

Cautions:
Vancouver: Omar Jarun 23'
Montreal: none

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Jay Nolly; 15.Omar Jarun, 19.Chris Pozniak, 22.Takashi Hirano (29.Admir Salihovic 77'), 24.Lyle Martin; 7.Martin Nash, 8.Steve Kindel, 9.Alfredo Valente (28.Diaz Kambere 61'), 25.Justin Moose; 26.Jason Jordan, 3.Nick Webb (14.Tony Donatelli 45')

Subs not used: 77.Srdjan Djekanovic, 11.Nicholas Addlery, 13.Mason Webb, 27.Stefan Leslie

Montreal Impact
1.Matt Jordan; 5.Nevio Pizzolitto, 24.Simon Gatti, 26.Cedric Joqueviel (2.Davy Uwimana 77'), 33.Adam Braz; 7.David Testo, 9.Rocco Placentino (18. Leonardo Di Lorenzo 45'), 15.Patrick Leduc, 20.Mauro Biello; 11.Severino Jefferson, 17.Joey Gjertsen (14.Sita-Taty Matondo 58')

Subs not used: 22.Andrew Weber, 10.Roberto Brown, 12.Charles Gbeke, 19.Pato Aguilera