Three-peat for Vancouver Whitecaps in Canadian Championship

Another Voyageurs Cup final against Toronto, another penalty kick victory at B.C. Place for the Whitecaps

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Published Sep 25, 2024  •  Last updated 1 hour ago  •  4 minute read

Vancouver Whitecaps' Ryan Gauld, front right, hoists the Voyageurs Cup after Vancouver defeated Toronto FC on penalty kicks during the Canadian Championship final soccer match, in Vancouver, on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. Photo by Darryl Dyck /THE CANADIAN PRESS

Smoke hung in the air at B.C. Place, the music still pumping, as the Vancouver Whitecaps players celebrated their third-straight Canadian Championship.

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Youssef Dahha stood back from the crowd of players, watching the proceedings like a proud father. The goalkeeper coach’s eyes practically sparkled as he watched Isaac Boehmer, the Caps’ 22-year-old keeper from Okanagan Falls, get named MVP championship game after Vancouver dispatched Toronto FC 4-2 on penalties.

“That’s six years of hard work right here,” he said, watching Boehmer getting handed the Voyageurs Cup.

“This is his time.”

Boehmer’s journey started with joining the team’s academy to signing a homegrown contract, getting loaned out to CPL side Pacific FC, to getting cut when his 2022 option was declined at the end of that season. But he parlayed a training camp invite into a new contract, and has been backing up No. 1 Yohei Takaoka ever since.

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“That’s just being a young goalkeeper. You have to take your moments when you get them,” he said post-game. “You’re not always going to be part of the squad sometimes, but you just have to keep focused, keep working hard. And I think that showed over the last year.”

He started down Toronto’s Federico Bernardeschi in a first-half penalty kick, diving to his right to deny the Reds’ DP. Boehmer stole the ball of the $6.3M man’s feet in the box in the second half, turned his booming shot from distance over the bar late in the game, and stymied Richie Lareya, all alone in the Caps box, midway through the second stanza.

In the penalty shootout after a scoreless regulation, Boehmer came up big again, stopping Toronto’s third shooter — Kosi Thompson — to give Vancouver the advantage.

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Caps defender Bjørn Utvik sealed the victory with a blast into the bottom right corner, just like fellow centreback Tristan Blackmon did two years ago when these two teams also went to kicks in the CanChamp final at B.C. Place.

Seeing that he was putting in strong performances last year, coach Vanni Sartini told Boehmer at the beginning of the year that he was going to play in the first Canadian Championship game, but he would have to earn the right to continue every round.

He gave up two goals in the two-leg first-round series victory over Cavalry FC, then finished with three straight clean sheets — two in wins over Pacific FC twice, and Wednesday against Toronto.

“He wasn’t playing because we needed three Canadians, and because he did extremely well last year, this year. He deserved to play this game,” said Sartini. “Isaac is probably the more powerful goalkeeper that I ever worked with. Today (Isaac) showed that he is a leader, even if he’s a young kid.

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” … And I hope that (Canadian National team coach) Jesse (Marsch) watched the game, because I think that there’s not too many Canadian goalkeepers better than him.”

Boehmer was unflappable on Wednesday night, even when Toronto’s Jonathan Osario tried rile him up by booting the ball out of his hands in the second half.

TFC chirped and clawed, flopped and fouled. They goaded Fafa Picault and Mathías Laborda into yellow cards, leading Sartini to pull Picault from the game in the second half because he was scared he might get into a fight. Toronto FC played, well, most un-Canadian, in the most Canadian of soccer games.

The Whitecaps came into the game looking for a three-peat in the Canadian Championship, and for the first five minutes, it appeared Toronto might snap a winless run at B.C. Place that dated back to 2017.

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The Whitecaps never found their feet consistently, ceding 65 per cent possession to the visitors, and getting outshot 13-7 (6-2 on target). They also had two legitimate penalty shouts denied by Beaudoin, one in the first half when Brian White was tripped from behind in the box, the other late in the second when Ryan Raposo was toppled at the top of the box.

“We know that this game was very important for them. And we know that their gamesmanship … it is what it is,” Sartini said of Toronto.

“I’m feeling a gutted for the lads, but a little bit of pride as well,” said Toronto coach John Herdman. “It’s a tough place to come, B.C. Place, and get a result. But I thought we performed well enough to get a result in 90 minutes. And fortunately, weren’t able to take the chances we had, and we put ourselves in that hole — penalties. And that’s going to be a lottery.

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“Just absolutely gutted. I thought the trophy was close to Toronto tonight, but fair play to Vancouver. I thought very resilient. Young Boehmer did a did a hell of a job tonight, and took his moment.”

The game was later in the year than previous editions, and being a mid-week school night played into just 12,516 being in the building. They had 20,072 for last year’s final against CF Montreal, on Wednesday, June 7.

There could have been a dozen people in the crowd, and it wouldn’t have mattered to Boehmer. This was his time, his moment.

“The rest of my life. For the rest of my life, this is going to stick with me,” he said.

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