{
    "title": "Vancouver Whitecaps FC advances to Canadian Championship Final",
    "modified_at": "2026-04-21 17:27:10",
    "published_at": "2023-05-25 04:15:00",
    "url": "https://news.canadasoccer.com/vancouver-whitecaps-fc-advances-to-canadian-championship-final",
    "short_url": "http://prez.ly/VnDd",
    "culture": "en",
    "language": "EN",
    "subtitle": "Vancouver Whitecaps FC will get a chance to defend their title in the 2023 Canadian Championship Final when they face visiting CF Montr\u00e9al in June. The Vancouver club advanced to the 2023 Final after their 3:0 win over Langford\u2019s Pacific FC in the Semi-Finals on Wednesday 24 May.",
    "slug": "vancouver-whitecaps-fc-advances-to-canadian-championship-final",
    "body": "<p>Julian Gressel, Ali Ahmed and Simon Becher scored the goals while goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka and his backline posted the clean sheet. Takaoka earned Vancouver&rsquo;s Player of the Match honours.</p><p>Ahmed suffered an injury in the first half and was taken to the hospital for further evaluation.</p><p>Vancouver opened the scoring on a counter attack in which Alessandro Sch&ouml;pf played the ball right into the path of teammate Gressel on the right. Gressel steadied his run and one-time a terrific shot that beat the teenaged goalkeeper Emil Gazdov.</p><p>Ahmed then made it 2-0 after Pacific FC failed to clear the box following a Vancouver throw in and a couple of headed balls. From Young&rsquo;s attempted clearance, Ahmed made the interception and beat the goalkeeper with his shot.</p><p>Becher completed the scoring in the 79th minute on a right-footed shot from inside the box. On the play, Pedro Vite carried the ball up the field and played it to Becher inside the box.</p><p>Vancouver Whitecaps FC are two-time Canadian Championship winners, having lifted the Voyageurs Cup in 2015 and 2022. They defeated Toronto FC on kicks from the penalty mark last year and previously beat Montr&eacute;al in the 2015 Final at BC Place.</p><div class=\"release-content-contact\" id=\"contact-0dedb214-f921-46e1-88b1-08cf4a8519d9\">\n    \n    <div class=\"release-content-contact__details\">\n        <strong class=\"release-content-contact__name\">Paulo Senra</strong>\n        <em class=\"release-content-contact__description\">Chief Communications &amp; Content Officer | Chef des communications et du contenu, Canada Soccer</em>\n        <ul class=\"release-content-contact__details-list\"><li class=\"release-content-contact__details-list-item\"><a href=\"mailto:psenra@canadasoccer.com\"  class=\"release-content-contact__details-list-item-link\" title=\"psenra@canadasoccer.com\"><svg class=\"icon icon-paper-plane release-content-contact__details-list-item-icon\">\n                <use xlink:href=\"#icon-paper-plane\"></use>\n            </svg>psenra@canadasoccer.com</a></li>\n<li class=\"release-content-contact__details-list-item\"><a href=\"tel:(416)&nbsp;882-7919\"  class=\"release-content-contact__details-list-item-link\" title=\"(416)&nbsp;882-7919\"><svg class=\"icon icon-mobile release-content-contact__details-list-item-icon\">\n                <use xlink:href=\"#icon-mobile\"></use>\n            </svg>(416)&nbsp;882-7919</a></li></ul>\n    </div>\n</div>",
    "header": {
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        "release": "https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/e87a2d96-bee9-48f6-94f6-964d1e523f5c/-/format/auto/"
    },
    "contacts": [
        {
            "name": "Paulo Senra",
            "company": "Canada Soccer",
            "description": "Chief Communications & Content Officer | Chef des communications et du contenu",
            "email": "psenra@canadasoccer.com",
            "website": null,
            "address": null,
            "telephone": null,
            "mobile": "(416)\u00a0882-7919",
            "twitter": null,
            "facebook": null
        }
    ],
    "author": {
        "first_name": "Integration",
        "last_name": "Integration"
    },
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}