Whitecaps blank Impact to win 1st Canadian Championship title

Octavio Rivero and Tim Parker scored as the hometownVancouver Whitecaps won their first Voyageurs Cup with a 2-0 victory over the Montreal Impact in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship on Wednesday.

Vancouver took the two-game series 4-2 on aggregate against the Impact, who had won the Canadian championship the past two years. The two teams played to a 2-2 first-leg draw on Aug. 12 in Montreal.

Rivero opened the scoring in the 39th minute -- booting the ball home a split second before Christian Techera's shot would have crossed the goal-line anyway. The goal spoiled a sensational effort by Montreal goalkeeper Eric Kronberg after he stopped Techera from point-blank range and then got back into position to stop the Whitecap speedster's second attempt.

Parker headed home a Pedro Morales corner in the 53rd minute to spoil any hope of an Impact comeback.

Montreal was reduced to 10 players for the last 60 minutes after defender Victor Cabrera received a pair of yellow cards for fouls on Rivero.

Cabrera was cautioned in the 22nd minute for pushing Rivero down from behind as he ran in the middle of the pitch without the ball during a rush. In the 23rd minute, Impact captain Laurent Ciman took down Christian Techera along the sidelines and then helped him up and apologized by giving him a hug. But referee Silviu Petrescu promptly showed him a yellow card.

Seven minutes later, Cabrera was automatically ejected after taking a second yellow card for knocking Rivero down just outside the top of the Montreal penalty area. The Impact's Dominic Oduro received a yellow card for arguing against the call.

Kronberg came up big in the second minute, stopping Kekuta Manneh from six yards after the Whitecaps winger rushed up the right side of the pitch.

Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted hurt his leg in a collision with Parker and Impact midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker, a former Whitecap, early on but stayed in the game.

Montreal failed to put a single shot on target while making nine attempts during the game. The Whitecaps put seven of their 12 shots on target.

Unlike the first leg, Vancouver coach Carl Robinson went mainly with regulars, fielding 10 of the 11 starters from Saturday's 1-0 win over FC Dallas. The only new starting addition was Russell Teibert, of Niagara Falls, Ont., who replaced defensive midfielder Matias Laba.

The Impact were without newly acquired former Chelsea star Didier Drogba and top scorer Ignacio Piatti due to injuries.