BMO Field still unplayable; NCC match moved to July 2

One night wasn’t enough to dry out BMO Field.  After Wednesday night’s Nutrilite Canadian Championship final was abandoned due to lightning and a waterlogged pitch, plans to replay the game on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. EST were also canceled.

Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps will instead conclude the second leg of the championship final on Saturday, July 2 at BMO Field at 12:30 p.m. EST.  The TFC website notes that tickets for Wednesday’s abandoned game will be honoured for the July 2 match.

The postponement concludes a wild 12 hours for both TFC, the Whitecaps and the Canadian Soccer Association.  The stormy conditions led to two lengthy delays during Wednesday’s game, and given that the rain continued to fall through the night in Toronto, it comes as no surprise that BMO Field is not fit for play this morning.

Postponing the match also makes sense from the perspective of player fitness.  It would’ve been hard on both clubs to play a virtual second match within a 12-hour span, especially since it was announced last evening that the Reds and Whitecaps would be held to the same 18-man rosters they submitted on Wednesday evening.

With TFC coming off a 0-0 draw in Colorado last Sunday, some Toronto players would’ve been playing their third game in less than five days.

While the rules for an abandoned match are clearly established within FIFA and NCC tournament rules, the Whitecaps and their supporters will no doubt feel hard done by.  Vancouver held a 1-0 lead through 60 minutes on Wednesday night and had jumped out to a 2-1 aggregate lead over Toronto.  Now, the Whitecaps go from being 30 minutes away from the Voyageurs Cup to starting from scratch in the second leg replay.

The aggregate score reverts to 1-1, with TFC holding the tiebreaker due to the away goal scored at Empire Field in the first leg on May 18.

Given that both teams have busy schedules over the next two months, the July 2 date is about as ideal an opening as could be found.  The Whitecaps will already be in Toronto, as they are slated to face the Reds in league play on Wednesday, June 29.  After the NCC final is completed, neither team plays again until July 6 (Vancouver at home hosting the Columbus Crew, while TFC is on the road against the New York Red Bulls). T

he replay date had to be finalized well in advance of July 26-28, as that is the window for the eventual Canadian champions’ home date of the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round tie against Nicaraguan side Real Esteli FC.

The away leg of the tie will be played at Estadio Independencia in Esteli between August 2-4.