TORONTO - The Vancouver Whitecaps' pursuit of their first Voyageurs Cup was foiled by foul weather Wednesday.
Now Vancouver's goal will be erased and the clock reset to zero when the Whitecaps and Toronto FC meet again July 2 to finish what they started.
Canadian Soccer Association officials announced Thursday they'd postponed the Nutrilite Canadian Championship final after Wednesday night's game was abandoned due to lightning and rain.
The Whitecaps were leading 1-0 on a goal by Eric Hassli and 2-1 on aggregate in the two-game, total goals series when officials sent both teams off the water-logged BMO Field pitch in the 60th minute.
Under the Canadian Championship rules, the game must be replayed in its entirety, a rule that frustrated Whitecaps coach Teitur Thordarson and had Vancouver fans crying foul.
"It's unfair, I feel it's very unfair," Whitecaps coach Teitur Thordarson said after the game was called off. "Obviously the advantage we got under this game doesn't count, so that is obviously unfair."
Fans took to Twitter offering up numerous conspiracy theories.
One fan tweeted: "TFC has field flooded so they can milk being in a Cup Final as long as possible. It's not often TO r in a Final! .NCCconspiracies."
Another wrote: "I'm sure I saw the sprinklers come on at halftime in the whitecaps toronto game .NCCconspiracies."
Numerous fans suggested Toronto put a goal in their own net to begin the July 2 game in the name of sportsmanship.
Peter Montopoli, the CSA's general secretary, said weather postponements are just part of the game, and pointed out that both teams knew the tournament rules.
"The regulations were set out that all teams were privy to and signed onto, and we're not in a position to change the regulations as the tournament unfolds," Montopoli said. "The regulations are the regulations that everybody has signed onto."
CSA officials had hoped to play the game Thursday but Montopoli said when they inspected the BMO Field pitch in the morning, they were concerned they were in for more inclement weather.
"The field was actually OK, but it was the weather conditions over top, as the match was going to begin at 11 a.m., and we were not certain of the weather conditions," Montopoli said.
The Whitecaps looked poised to claim the Canadian crown after a left-footed strike by Hassli gave them the lead.
But lightning coupled with the torrential rain would be their undoing. Nearby lightning forced a 45-minute suspension of play at halftime, and then another suspension in the 60th minute. The second delay lasted more than an hour before officials walked out to inspect the water-logged field and ruled it unplayable.
The July 2 date was the obvious choice for a replay as the Whitecaps will be in Toronto for a Major League Soccer game on June 29, and neither team had league games scheduled for that Saturday.
The two teams played to a 1-1 draw in Game 1 of the series last week in Vancouver.
The winner of the series will play in the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League, from which the winner of that competition will represent the CONCACAF zone in the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup.
