Valour FC stood in the middle of the ring with one of the top squads in North America and -- after an early knock down -- not only got back up off the mat to unload some shots of their own, but ultimately delivered an epic performance on a historic night.
Hosting an Major League Soccer squad for the first time in powerhouse Vancouver Whitecaps, Winnipeg's Canadian Premier League squad played to a gritty 2-2 draw in front of 3,476 at Princess Auto Stadium in the first leg of the Canadian Championship quarterfinal.
"The fairy tale would have been coming away with a win," began Valour centre back Rocco Romeo, "but all the respect to the opposition. Arguably they're one of the best teams in North America currently and the opportunity to play them, especially at home, is historic.
"Coming out for the anthem and seeing our fans -- more than usual -- is for me, a real honour. All I can say is thank you. Thank you to the club, thank for our fans coming out, but it's only halftime. We have another leg coming up."
The second leg, FYI, goes July 9th in Vancouver at B.C. Place.
Before we proceed, a little background is in order here to properly represent the significance of the draw for Valour FC and what it means.
First, the Canadian Chamionship is an in-season tournament separate from league play in the MLS and CPL that features this country's top professional teams, including the Whitecaps, CF Montreal and Toronto FC, all eight CPL teams and the champions of League1 Ontario, League1 B.C., Ligue1 Quebec and League1 Alberta.
Valour advanced to the quarter-final after knocking off League1 B.C. champion TSS Rovers last week while the Whitecaps -- the three-time defending Canadian Championship winners -- had a first-round bye.
The winner of the Canadian Championship not only captures the Voyageurs Cup but earns a berth in the Concacaf Champions Cup featuring teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The Whitecaps have already beaten two Mexican heavyweights in Monterrey and Pumas in the Concacaf Champions Cup and will play Cruz Azul on June 1st in the final while this year's event is still in the early stages.
They also entered the first in the MLS's Western Conference with an 8-4-1 record and unbeaten in 12 matches in league play and still brought regulars to the match, including all-time leading scorer Brian Wright, who came into the match in the second half as a substitute. The Whitecaps lineup featured six of their leading 10 players in terms of minutes, including Ranko Veselinovic, Sebastian Berhalter, White, Pedro Vite and Edier Ocampo. All but Ocampo saw minutes against Valour.
Coming off their first win of the season in a 2-1 decision over York United FC on the weekend, Valour fell behind in the sixth minute on a goal by Sam Adekugbe.
But instead of sagging, they found life and tied the game in the 38th minute as Romeo headed home a perfect corner from Themi Antonoglou.
"Definitely a memorable one for sure, said Romeo. "We have our set-play coordinator Daryl Fordyce and, excuse my language, but he gave me a bit of s--t after the York game after I missed a clear chance. He said, 'You owe me one.' Themi and I have been talking about which area to put (the corner) in for a while now and I just saw the ball come in. Perfect ball. And when it hit my head I couldn't really believe it, honestly.
"In that moment I was thinking about my dad and my grandmother. It was my dad's birthday today, so that was a nice birthday gift for him."
Valour kept its collective boot on the gas after that and took the lead in the 51st minute on some brilliance from Bruno Figueiredo, who hammered home a shot after some brilliant work down the left flank by Jevontae Layne and then Zach Fernandez. Figueiredo would have a later chance to win it when he cranked another chance off the post in the 84th minute.
Critical now for Valour is to attempt to carry this momentum into their next match this Sunday in Calgary against Cavalry FC.
"It was good. More important is what can we take out of a game like that," said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos. "I told the guys you're playing four quarters of football (including the second leg upcoming) and, 'How many of those can we win?' Right now we drew two and have to know that there's going to be another match and they'll be prepared and ready to play at home. It's going to be a very difficult second leg for us. We have to build on this and build on this, more than anything for CPL play.
"... It was special. When we looked at the draw of the Canadian Championship we knew that it was an opportunity to bring something special to the city. You saw today it was loud. The fans were engaged. It was what this city could be. People need to adopt this team, to fall in love with it again and it's with matches like these, and nights like these."
'V' Notes
-This marked the second time in history these two franchises met in the Canadian Championship. Previously the Whitecaps knocked off Valour FC 2-nil at B.C. Place in the preliminary round of the 2022 Canadian Championship.
Valour FC 2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1
**Goals
Valour FC
**37:20': Rocco Romeo (assist: Themi Antonoglou)
50:58': Bruno Figueredo (assist: Zach Fernandez)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
5:22': Sam Adekugbe
79:43': Ali Ahmed
Card summary
Valour FC
6:49′: Bruno Figueiredo (yellow, reckless offence)
55:40': Rocco Romeo (yellow, reckless offence)
65:40': Kris Twardek (yellow, argument)
72:38' Frankie Facchineri (yellow, dissent)
88:31': Kian Williams (yellow, tactical fou
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
25:51': Jeevan Badwal (yellow, tactical foul)
38:00': Isaac Boehmer (yellow, dissent)
VALOUR STARTING XI
GK – Eleias Himaras
D – Zach Fernandez
D – Rocco Romeo
D – Kelsey Egwu
D – Themi Antonoglou
MF – Raphael Ohin ©
MF – Xavier Venancio
MF – Bruno Figueiredo
FW – Diogo Ressurreicao
FW – Kris Twardek
F – Jevontae Layne
—
Valour substitutions
63:32’: On Shaan Hundal; off Jevontae Layne
63:32': On Jordan Faria; off Xavier Venancio
74:57': On Safwane Mlah; off Raphael Ohin
75:05': On Kian Williams; off Kris Twardek