The Vancouver Whitecaps beat FC Edmonton 3-2 last night in the first leg of their Voyageurs Cup semifinal. I missed the match, but it certainly proved why we play these things, as the Whitecaps reportedly looked poor and trailed the second-division Eddies for much of the night before that weird Camilo PK.

The call looked so sketchy that Edmonton manager Colin Miller got himself ejected for complaining about it. When it comes to the foul, I think there was contact but he certainly made a meal of it. He appeared to be savvy, snagging a lovely goal inside the first ten minutes. It’s easy to do that against an inexperienced defense, but it’s nice to see him get results. It’s also good that Tommy Heinemann got a goal; I haven’t really liked what I’ve seen of him ever since a brief moment of insanity that got him sent off against UBC, and perhaps this will pick up his spirits.

The Whitecaps have been criticized for their focus on this competition, the thinking being that it might distract from their league play. This result proves that you can’t sleepwalk through the Cup, but the ‘Caps suffered up until the 83rd minute. Oh well. At least it’s a road win.

Stats after the jump.

Goals

5′ – VAN – Camilo Sanvezzo
8′ – EDM – Michael Cox
28′ – EDM – Chris Nurse (Lance Laing)
83′ – VAN – Camilo Sanvezzo (PK)
89′ – VAN – Tom Heinemann

Cards

33’ – EDM – Yellow – Mallan Roberts
36’ – VAN – Yellow – Russell Teibert
78’ – VAN – Yellow – Camilo Sanvezzo
87′ – EDM – Red – Colin Miller (manager)
88’ – EDM – Yellow – Neil Hlavaty

Numbers

Shots: Edmonton 9 – Vancouver 14
Shots on Goal: Edmonton 5 – Vancouver 8
Fouls: Edmonton 15 – Vancouver 11
Offsides: Edmonton 3 – Vancouver 3
Corners: Edmonton 3 – Vancouver 12
Possession: Edmonton 33.5% – Vancouver 66.5%

Lineups

FC Edmonton: Lance Parker; Eddie Edward, Mallan Roberts, Adrian Leroy, Lance Laing; Chris Nurse, Neil Hlavaty, Robert Garrett (Edem Mortotsi 59′), Daryl Fordyce, Shaun Saiko; Michael Cox (Sadi Jalali 85′)
Unused Subs: John Smits, Antonio Rago, Massimo Mirabelli, Hanson Boakai, Michael Nonni

Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Brad Knighton; Greg Klazura, Andy O’Brien, Johnny Leveron, Jordan Harvey; Nigel Reo-Coker, Gershon Koffie, Russell Teibert; Daigo Kobayashi (Tom Heinemann 66′), Darren Mattocks, Camilo Sanvezzo
Unused Subs: Simon Thomas, Brad Rusin, Erik Hurtado, Jun Marques Davidson, Kekuta Manneh, Caleb Clarke