The Vancouver Whitecaps will be heading back to a now-familiar destination, the Canadian Championship final, on the heels of a 4-0 blitzing of Forge at BC Place. It wasn’t quite as spectacular as their most recent MLS win but it wasn’t far off and was about as drama free of an evening as you could ask for in a cup semifinal.
Goals from Tristan Blackmon, J.C. Ngando and Jayden Nelson, plus a penalty from Sebastian Berhalter, highlighted a night when Vancouver had 23 shots, nine of them on target, and never were troubled by one of the Canadian Premier League’s best teams.
Jesper Sorensen went with a rotated lineup, a nod to the team’s busy fixture calendar. In came Isaac Boehmer, Tate Johnson, Jeevan Badwal, J.C. Ngando and Jayden Nelson to help meet the Canadian quota and give some of the starters a rest.
Both keepers were tested early. Boehmer was called into action 90 seconds into the match on the second phase off a corner, denying Alexander Ahinioti-Jonsson from point blank range. Minutes later, Ngando forced Jassem Koleilat to make a save, one that granted Forge only a temporary reprieve.
Koleilat was caught adrift on the resulting corner, finding himself in no man’s land with Tristan Blackmon happy to oblige at the back post to head into an open net and give the ‘Caps an early lead.
Vancouver controlled things well after the goal, finding lots of space in transition and making it easy to play through Edier Ocampo, Ali Ahmed and Nelson on the wings. This was helped by some lovely line breaking passes from Blackmon, Ngando, and Berhalter and both Ngando and Nelson were denied by Koleilat, who did well to recover from his error to make two excellent saves.
But he could do nothing about a perfectly placed strike from Ngando to double Vancouver’s lead. A sloppy turnover from Forge gifted the ‘Caps purpose well up the pitch. But instead of playing a diagonal ball for Ocampo, Ngando used the space he was afforded to line up an inch-perfect shot from distance, which kissed the right upright and bounced in to make it 2-0.
The ‘Caps kept the pressure on, with Daniel Rios unable to find his feet to punish a nightmare build up from the back from Koleilat and his backline. Forge’s best forays forward involved probing long balls over the top, particularly down the lefthand side, where Johnson struggled to cope.
Moments into the second half, things got even worse for Forge. After a flurry of chances in the box, the away side breathed a sigh of relief to only concede a corner. Excellent service from Berhalter forced Marko Jevremovic to haul down Belal Halbouni, who was tracking the incoming cross, and left Michael Venne with no choice but to point to the spot. Berhalter calmly dispatched the penalty to effectively bury the tie with the entire second 45 minutes left to play.
Forge were left with no other options than to throw men forward in hopes of a miracle, which left Vancouver even more space on the inevitable counters. Sorensen used the bulk of the second half as a chance to rest players, with Ahmed, Berhalter and Rios making way to give Rayan Elloumi.
The only dark cloud (and it is admittedly a big one) for the ‘Caps in this one was an apparent knee injury for Tristan Blackmon in the dying moments, with Mathias Laborda coming on to see out the match as Blackmon exited unable to put any weight on his leg. Elloumi and Nelson made fans briefly forget about it with a lovely combination to make it 4-0 but everyone will certainly be holding their breath.
Stray Thoughts
- You’d have to go back to the 2023 edition of the Voyageurs Cup for the last time the ‘Caps won by multiple goals in the tournament. The improving quality of the CPL means these sorts of games often aren’t straightforward — which makes the start-to-finish dominance in this one all the more impressive. It is almost as if Vancouver picked right up from Saturday’s game, with the opposition nominally swapped out. The fluidity of the movement, the ease with which Vancouver broke the opposition’s lines, the confidence on the ball — it all carried through. That isn’t a knock on Forge but rather a testament to the belief in this team and how seriously they took this match.
- This is a bit of a spoiler for the Three Stars below but, my word, was JC Ngando absolutely brilliant. This was even better than his performance against Sporting KC, where he also scored. Ngando’s positioning is just really good — he makes himself available in such dangerous areas, finds the little pockets of space and reads the game well to decide whether to try to take a player on off the dribble, feed Ahmed or Ocampo or try a shot.
- Forge certainly didn’t bring the best versions of themselves but this midfield was really good, shutting down any build up through the middle and forcing a lot of the sloppy play we saw. Berhalter was an attack dog and this was as good as we’ve seen him in awhile, while Badwal had four ball recoveries in a half of play — not bad work at all from the youngster.
- I love that Rayan Elloumi is getting league-wide attention for his goal on Saturday but those national pundits should realize what ‘Caps fans already know: Elloumi is a baller. He doesn’t look out of place with the senior team and is constantly goal dangerous and willing to try things, even if they don’t come off. His assist was straightforward but still well-executed. There is no reason he can’t play a meaningful first team role next season or even down the stretch this year.
- The one thing the ‘Caps couldn’t have happen in this one was an injury to a key player. And the one area they really couldn’t afford an injury was at centerback. The scenes of Tristan Blackmon hobbling off the pitch will strike fear in the hopes of supporters and while this team has fought bitterly despite (gestures broadly at the injury list), I’m not sure they can recover from this. Good vibes and a speedy recovery to Tristan.
Three Stars
3. Tristan Blackmon
Lots of great attacking performances tonight but I think you also need to give credit to Blackmon (and Belal Halbouni) for keeping a great handle on the match positionally, not giving Forge any space going forward, even with some reasonably probing direct balls from Forge. The goal was the cherry on top for Blackmon but he read things really well, helping to start breaks with some really nice passing.
2. J.C. Ngando
If you had recently arrived from Mars and had not watched a single other Whitecaps match this season before this one, you’d think Ngando was one of the stars of this team, rather than a rotation piece. He was that classy on the ball and constantly creating danger with his feet, his passing, and his shooting.
1. Sebastian Berhalter
Berhalter had 14 passes into the opposition’s attacking third and that honestly feels like an undercount. He was everywhere for the ‘Caps, helping to win back possession and find Ngando, Ahmed and Ocampo in dangerous areas before the away side could even blink. His set piece delivery effectively set up two goals and it was only fitting he was able to finish off the fruits of his labour on the PK.
(Image: Chaehyun Lim)
some info i found on Blackmon’s MCL injury: the amount of time he needs to recover will depend on the degree it is injured- levels 1, 2, 3 with the higher number being the worse and probably needing – GULP- surgery
verywellhealth.com/how-to-treat-an-mcl-sprain-5200351
the bottom line is- it will take weeks in the best case scenarion for Tristain to get back on the field – IMO, if its a mid-level 1, then Axel and Jesper know he will be ready for the playoffs and probably put Laborda as a CB where he has been used before; a high level 2 and a 3 could mean Axel will be looking for an experienced free agent CB as the other 2 injured CBs are ready (Pupe, Schonlau) and Vesalenovic is gone until 2026
the way Blackmon was helped off the field leads me to think it is an upper 2 or 3 MCL sprain- if he does need surgery, he is gone for the season; if its a level 1 to mid-level 2, he will be gone until some time in mid to late October- even a level 1 mild sprain will be 1 month
if we see him in a knee sleeve, thats good news
Salty
Rumors abound, but I’ve heard he suffered a grade 2 MCL injury to his right knee. Surgery is not anticipated, and recovery is expected to take 4-6 weeks if all goes well with physical therapy.
We should remember that each person heals differently, and the level of fitness prior to the injury can impact recovery time. Tristan is obviously in great physical shape, as demonstrated by his game performance, so we can hope he recovers sooner versus later, but we certainly shouldn’t want him to return to play before all his body parts are stable and up to the task.
In the meantime, I’m confident all VWFC fans will offer encouragement and support, not just to Tristan, but to all the players who are about to find themselves in the spotlight. When commenting on social media, please keep your comments on the side of kindness.
“One thing about championship teams is that they’re resilient. No matter what is thrown at them, no matter how deep the hole, they find a way to bounce back and overcome adversity.” – Nick Saban
The Whitecaps *are* a championship team.
so if its a Level 2 MCL sprain, he could recover by mid to late October, then he would have to start with conditioning which would mean until late October to first week of November before he is ready- our last regular season game is October 18 and the first round of playoffs start October 24 to November 9 (best of 3)
Blackmon could come back either in the 2nd to 3rd first round playoff game, or to the semi-final round of the conference playoffs which start November 22
NOTE- there is a mid-playoff break for international friendlies, November 10-18
Salty
It seems so many of our players are interchangeable. Don’t know if we can play 3 at back with only 2 natural cb’s. Looks like halloumi, Laborda, elcampo and Johnson are going to have to carry us through. If these 4 can stay healthy then I think we’ll be okay
having been a defender in my amatuer days- and goalies would say the same- you need a leader and its the CB- we have lost the leader- Blackmon- – he organized, covered, directed and was the safe outlet for all the other defenders
at this point of his career, Halbouni is not that, nor is Johnson or Ocampo– Laborda has some of those qualities, but just not enough
i wonder if Axel will try to sign an older CB free agent that comes with some of those qualities… we need that – even if its a 4 month contract- i would expect Axel to be brain-storming with his scouts and Jesper
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3&land_id=alle&altersklasse=&wettbewerb_id=alle&seit=alle&yt0=Show
Blackmon’s injury is a heavy nail being pounded in as we head to the playoffs
Salty
Halbouni, Ocampo, Johnson, Laborda- i dont see any of them as a Leader- 3 young players- Laborda is the best player, but we have never seen him as a Leader
Yeah no I was thinking if they brought up someone or found someone that would be an option other than 4 at the back. They probably need to find someone depending on Blackmon because there are no more left if one of them goes down. Though I think I read today that Blackmon is 1-6 weeks depending on how well he responds. Thats kind of a very vague timeline but not a bad one for playoffs.
In Jesper we trust! He will figure something out but that’s really bad luck with the CB’s. Maybe they can find another Elloumi in Next Pro for some backup there to do an occasional back 3 with the Ocampo and Johnson playing wingbacks.
No one knew he was getting injured and he was about to come off so just bad luck. Could have all been fine and he would have gotten a huge round of applause.
I’m going to miss him though he’s such a great player.
Great chance for Halbouni though I guess. He’s the last man standing so he gets to have as much minutes as he likes now 😉
as many minutes… my grammar is getting awful online.
our top 4 CBs are now injured and none seem close to returning- Veselinovic, Schonlau, Pupe and now Blackmon whose injury would appear to be serious (and i think that Jesper is annoyed at himself for not subbing him off when the score was
4-0)- its a major, MAJOR concern as we head to the playoffs
now its left up to Halbouni, a stud of a player, but who lacks poise on the ball and passing skills, and probably Laborda which leaves a hole on the RB position (Ocampo can be a disaster on defence and Bovalina is a rookie)
its going to be a bigger test than loosing Brian White and Sam Adegukbe, let alone Ryan Gauld
and YES, Rayan will be a regular sub/starter this season- he has natural talent, ambition and instinct as a striker- he is noticeable when playing while Rios is not
Salty
Wow. Belal Halbouni travelling like a rocket up the depth chart in the past month. Don’t want to jinx anything but if he can step up and play like a first option CB, even for a few weeks, he could end up being the difference between a first ever Supporters’ Shield and losing home field advantage in the playoffs.
No pressure though.
“No pressure though” – LOL.
Belal has been doing good. I hope he keeps it up as we need it now more than ever.
Where are the German and Belgium defenders we just signed?
Injured, because of course they are.
Pupe did his hamstring in his last game for his old club. Hopefully will be back by the end of the month.
Schonlau did his achilles over the break. Probably will be awhile.
achilles and hamstrings take months to fully recover from– experienced injury-sufferer
Salty
Ww=hy did the club sign him /.COULD NOT PASS THE MEDICAL?
Man, if we don’t win the Shield or Cup it’s going to be such a what-if season due to all our injuries.
Here’s wishing Tristan a speedy recovery, but Jesper’s post-game comments don’t fill me with confidence.
Oh and I never want to see Daniel Rios starting again. Elloumi does far better.
Rios has been a class-act professional, but YES, Rayan is a better choice- quicker, instinctive and dangerous inside the box
Salty