TORONTO — Fans will have to wait to see who makes it to the final of the Canadian Championship.
That's because there will be an almost seven-week delay between the first and second legs of the soccer cup semifinals.
The semifinal draw was held May 29 at halftime of Pacific FC’s 2-1 aggregate win over Atletico Ottawa in the second leg of their quarterfinal in Langford, B.C. But the dates for the semifinals — July 10 and Aug. 27 — were not released until Monday.
Forge FC will host the opening leg of its series with Toronto FC on July 10 at Tim Hortons Field with the return leg Aug. 27 at BMO Field. The dates remain the same for the other semifinal with Pacific FC entertaining the defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg at Starlight Stadium with the rematch at B.C. Place Stadium.
The Pacific-Whitecaps winner will host the one-game final in late September.
Pacific and Vancouver have met in the cup competition twice before. Pacific defeated the Whitecaps 4-3 in the preliminary round of the 2021 tournament. Vancouver won 3-0 when they met in last year’s semifinal.
Toronto defeated Forge by a penalty shootout in the pandemic-delayed 2020 championship game, which was actually played in June 2022.
Forge (4-3-1) currently sits third in the eight-team CPL with Pacific (3-2-4) in fourth.
Vancouver (7-5-4) is ninth overall in the MLS standings while Toronto (7-7-3) stands 11th.
The winner of the 14-team Canadian Championship hoists the Voyageurs Cup, collects $50,000 from Canada Soccer in prize money and qualifies for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the confederation’s elite men’s club competition.
Toronto has won the competition eight times with five cup wins for Vancouver and three for CF Montreal.
The Canadian Championship is sponsored by Telus.
---
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2024.
The Canadian Press
