VANCOUVER, B.C. – Delicately poised is perhaps the best way to describe this year's Amway Canadian Championship final as the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC get set to battle it out in the second leg at BC Place Wednesday night (10 pm ET; TSN1 in Canada, MLS Live in US).
Toronto hold a one-goal advantage from the first leg following their narrow 1-0 win, leaving Vancouver having to score at least once to keep their dreams alive of retaining the Voyageurs Cup.
Goals obviously win matches, but this is a game that could hang on the play of both defenses. Toronto know that if they can simply keep Vancouver off the scoresheet then they will win their first Canadian Championship since 2012.
If they are to do it, it will have to be without goalkeeper Clint Irwin, who is now out for six weeks following a quad strain picked up in Saturday loss in Orlando. That leaves Toronto head coach Greg Vanney with the choice of two inexperienced back-ups – Homegrown Quillan Roberts or last year's first-round SuperDraft pick Alex Bono.
"We'll make a choice and we'll put one of them in goal and his job is to do the best he can for the duration of the match," Vanney said of TFC's current goalkeeping at Tuesday's press conference. "We'll make a selection based on who we feel is stronger in the goal and it's time to step up.
"We trust both of them. We feel they're both good, young goalkeepers, and at some point it comes the time when they have to prove themselves as well. There'll be an opportunity for them."
As uncommitted as Vanney was about his goalkeeping choice, Bono looks to be the favorite to get the nod, after coming on for Irwin on Saturday for his MLS debut. He saw 20 minutes of action, and although he played a part in Orlando's second goal, Vanney was pleased with what he saw overall from the 22-year-old.
"He was aggressive," Vanney said. "He didn't sit on his line and wait for things. He came out, he punched a cross, he tried to make a play. He didn't look scared and timid, so I give him credit for that. It's not easy for a goalkeeper to be called off the bench and thrown in to the game where you're vying for a result at the end."
For Vancouver, with the away goals rule in effect, a Toronto goal would leave the Whitecaps with an immense uphill battle, needing three goals to keep the Cup out west.
Keeping Sebastian Giovinco and the Toronto attack at bay is key and 'Caps coach Carl Robinson has his own goalkeeping quandary. Does he keep back-up Paolo Tornaghi between the posts or go back to MLS ever-present David Ousted?
Tornaghi has played, and excelled, in all three of Vancouver's games in the competition so far, but like Vanney, Robinson wasn't giving anything away.
"There's a trophy on the line," Robinson stated. "So there's a lot of thinking that goes in to it. My thought process on it is I'll leave it till [matchday] and decide."
Robinson was faced with the same dilemma for last year's final against Montreal, eventually going with the more experienced Ousted. It was a tough choice, one Robinson really mulled over, and he admits he felt bad for Tornaghi.
For the Italian 'keeper, it was one of the toughest moments of his footballing career to miss out on the final, but he's hopeful he'll get a second chance this time around. And if he does, he's ready to play his part.
"I know my position here," Tornaghi said. "It's not like something that is different. I have to be ready when I'm called. It's not easy at all, but I have to do it. If I play at my level, I will be of help for the team."
