FC Edmonton Fall to Whitecaps in Amway Canadian Championship, Toronto and Montreal Draw

FC Edmonton fell to the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-0 at home in the first round of the Amway Canadian Championship on Wednesday evening.

It took only 18 minutes for Vancouver to get on the boards when Omar Salgado found  Eric Hassli at the top of the 18 yard box. The French forward coolly slotted the ball past FC Edmonton’s goalkeeper David Monsalve for the opening goal.

It was Salgado again who set up the insurance goal for Vancouver. He played a chipped ball over the top of Monsalve but the ball hit the post. The Whitecaps’ Atiba Harris cleaned things up by pouncing on the rebound and finishing for the game’s 2nd and last goal of the night.

Vancouver dominated on corner kicks 10-5 but shots were close with Edmonton taking 17 attempts and the Whitecaps 14. Former Carolina RailHawks goalkeeper Brad Knighton made 3 saves on the night for Vancouver; Monsalve, who is back from injury and started for the Eddies, saved 4.

The goal for Hassli got the monkey off his back and ended a long scoring drought. Seventeen games Hassli went without a goal until last night.

“It’s a good feeling,” Eric Hassli said. “Thanks Omar [Salgado] for giving me a great ball. I’m lucky, because it was difficult. But I’m happy. Maybe the chances have turned for me now.”

In other Amway Canadian Championship action, the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC ended as a 0-0 draw in Montreal at Olympic Stadium.