Whitecaps advance to Canadian Championship final after shutting down Fury

The Vancouver Whitecaps started the game two goals behind but refused to be beaten.

Striker Octavio Rivero put an exclamation point on a Vancouver comeback with a goal in the 52nd minute as the Whitecaps defeated the Ottawa Fury 3-0 Wednesday to advance to the final of the Amway Canadian Championship.

The Whitecaps won the two-game aggregate semifinal series by a final score of 3-2 and will face Toronto FC in the final after the Reds advanced past the Montreal Impact. The Fury are members of the North American Soccer League, which is one tier below Major League Soccer, where both Vancouver and Toronto play.

Rivero gave Vancouver the victory after taking a pass from midfielder Pedro Morales. He boomed a right-footed shot from about 10 yards out that went off the far post and into the net, bringing a roar from the crowd of 17,863 at B.C. Place.

Morales scored on a penalty kick in the third minute and Nicolas Mezquida converted on a header in the 20th to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead at the half and tie the score of the series.

Veterans pull through

The Whitecaps dressed a young lineup in last week's 2-0 loss to the Fury in the opening game of the semifinal played at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa.

Vancouver fielded a more veteran side in the rematch and it didn't take the Whitecaps long to cut into Ottawa's lead.

The game was in the second minute when midfielder Matias Laba put a ball through to Mezquida. He had a clear path to the net until being pushed in the back while in the box by Ottawa defender Rafael Alves. That set up Morales on the penalty kick.

Morales and Mezquida also played a role in Vancouver's second goal. Morales sent a long ball toward the net that Rivero headed to Mezquida, who directed the ball with his head past the outstretched fingers of Ottawa goalkeeper Romuald Peiser.

Just seconds earlier, Peiser had made a pair of brilliant stops off shots from Mezquida and Laba.

Whitecaps keeper Paolo Tornaghi had to be sharp late in the half when Ottawa midfielder Marcel de Jong broke through Vancouver's defence. Tornaghi charged out of his net and made a diving save on de Jong's shot.