Sitting one point behind the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the race for first place seeding for the 2013 Amway Canadian Championship, the scoreless draw in Toronto was not the result the team was hoping for.
Tied in points at 42 after the game, the Impact was forced to watch Vancouver play its game in hand yesterday against the Portland Timbers, at home.
Advantage Vancouver? Not exactly…
The Whitecaps were stunned at BC Place by the Timbers, losing 1-0 to a team that has the third worst goals against in the entire league, limiting the home side to just one shot on goal.
WATCH: Jewsbury stuns BC Place
The loss put the Impact in the driver’s seat for first place in next-year’s four-team Canadian Championship tournament, which sees the first seed play the only team in the tournament from the NASL (second division).
Impact holds tiebreaker
With one game remaining for both sides, a win by the Impact next weekend guarantees that the first year team finishes the 2012 season as the best Canadian team in MLS, despite the possibility of finishing tied in points.
The first tiebreaker is goals for, and after this past weekend’s action, the Impact has a 10 goal lead, having scored 45 goals to Vancouver’s 35. Therefore, any result that would end up in a tie in league points would see the Impact crowned Canada’s best team…that is unless, the Whitecaps were to manage the near impossible feat of making up the 11 goals in one game.
Down to the wire
The Impact will host the New England Revolution, the fourth worst team in MLS this season, next Saturday afternoon at Stade Saputo. The team was victorious in both matchups with the Revs in 2012, winning 2-1 at Stade Saputo on July 18, and then earning its second road victory of the season 1-0 on August 12.
The Whitecaps have a slightly tougher opponent, playing the Western Conference’s third seed in Real Salt Lake, in Salt Lake City, Utah. In two meetings at Rio Tinto Stadium, Vancouver has never won, losing 2-1 this season and 2-0 last year.
Let’s not forget that the Whitecaps have lost their last seven on the road and have only managed to win one of their 12 MLS games away from BC Place.
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