The second round of the Canadian Championship kicked off on Tuesday night, where we had an exciting matchup between teams in the CPL and MLS. York United remains as the only CPL team to come out of the second-round win after beating Pacific FC in penalties. Calvary also pushed penalties on MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps, where they would, unfortunately, lose. CF Montreal put a great performance as defending champs over Forge FC in a 3-0 win, and Toronto was just able to squeeze by Halifax Wanderers with a 2-1 win. This week we will see a very offensive team of the week with a 3-3-4 formation.
Goalkeeper
Marco Carducci (Calvary FC)
Vancouver now has three matches under their belt versus Calvary FC, and in all three games, the Whitecaps couldn’t get the job done within the 90 minutes. Marco Carducci stood on his head by making big saves, including a point-blank save on Canadian international forward Lucas Cavallini. Carducci finished the match with four saves but was unable to stop any of the shots when it came to penalties.
Defenders
Luca Petrasso (Toronto FC)
The fist ever Toronto FC player to appear on the 13th Man Sports’ Team of the Week is Luca Petrasso. The 21-year-old left-back played the full 90 minutes while assisting the opening goal of the game in the 55th minute on a goal by Jordan Perruzza. Petrasso finished the game with 83 touches, four interceptions and five clearances.
Amer Didic (Pacific FC)
Amer Didic continued his excellent performance and kept his hat in the ring as potentially the best defender in the CPL. Known for his big body and solid defending, Didic scored the only two goals for Pacific FC in this year’s Canadian championship. With a header in the 11th minute and a blast outside the box in the 90+6 minute Didic pushed his team to penalties.
Joel Waterman (CF Montreal)
Forge FC went into Montreal on Wednesday evening hoping to have bounce back and beat Montreal after losing to them last year on penalties. Unfortunately for Forge, they couldn’t get much going against Montreal, and Joel Waterman can be someone to look at for that. With five clearances, the former CPL defender shut down Forge all night. Having 100 touches and a 96 percent success rate on his passes, Waterman had his presence on the field all game.
S. 2 Ep. 21: Canada Doing What Canada Does – FC13 Podcast
Midfielders
Cristián Gutiérrez (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Completing five tackles, making two interceptions, and two clearances, Cristián Gutiérrez stood out in Calgary on Wednesday evening. Gutiérrez performance showed you don’t have to be flashy or over the top to make the team of the week. The 25 year old put in a solid work effort to help shut down Calvary as well as keeping them on their toes, completing six out of nine attempted crosses, connecting on all his long balls and finishing with an 89 percent success rate on all his passes.
Andre Rampersad (Halifax Wanderers FC)
Picking up a well deserved man of the match in front of a sold out crowd in Halifax, Rampersad came out strong against the MLS side. Being subbed off in the 67 minute the Trinidadian competed the game with 50 touches and an impressive 94 percent when it came completing his passes. Rampersad controlled the midfield like any other night making two, interceptions and winning 10 of his 13 ground duels.
Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare (Halifax Wanderers FC)
Along with Rampersad, Gagnon-Lapare put in a solid outing at home on Tuesday. Playing 84 minutes and assisting the lone goal for Halifax to tie the game Gagnon-Lapare completed 86 percent of his passes, three of them being key passes. Gagnon-Lapare has continued to show great chemistry along with his midfield partners, proving that’s where the Wanderers try to win their games.
Forwards
Matko Miljevic (CF Montreal)
Montreal ran the majority of the game against Forge FC in all areas of the pitch. Matko Miljevic registered two assists on the evening, helping teammate Sunusi Ibrahim on his way to a hattrick within the first 50 min of the match. Completing all of his ling balls and four out of five of his crosses, Miljevic played 73 minutes and got one shot on target as well.
Samuel Salter (Halifax Wanderers FC)
Scoring a goal from outside the box in the 69th minute to tie the game, Samuel Salter finds his way on to round two’s team of the week. The most active player upfront for the boys in blue, Salter had a total of four shots towards goal. The 21 year old Canadian finished the 90 minutes with one chance created, 73 percent of accurate passes, and 44 touches.
Myer Bevan (Calvary FC)
Making his second start on the team of the week Canadian championship edition, Myer Bevan is tied for goals in the scoring race for the most goals scored in the tournament. The Kiwi forward opened the scoring in 72nd minute to put Calvary in the lead over the Whitecaps. Bevan finished the game with to attempts on goal along with two block shots, and he also scored when it was his turn to step up to the ball in penalties.
Sunusi Ibrahim (CF Montreal)
Not much to say about Ibrahim being on this week’s team of the week. Scoring all three goals within just the first 50 minutes of play, the Nigerian striker was all over Forge from the start, scoring his first goal in just the 14th minute. Ibrahim had a total of five shots on target in just the 62 minutes played. Ibrahim is now tied at top of scoring with Myer Bevan with three apiece.
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