2019 Canadian Championship

2019 Canadian Championship

Championnat Canadien 2019
Country	Canada
Dates	May 15 – September 25, 2019
Teams	13 (from 5 leagues)
Champions	Montreal Impact (4th title)
Runners-up	Toronto FC
Matches played	24
Goals scored	55 (2.29 per match)
Attendance	156,268 (6,511 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Ignacio Piatti (4 goals)
George Gross Memorial Trophy	Ignacio Piatti
← 2018 2020 →

The 2019 Canadian Championship was the twelfth edition of the Canadian Championship, contested from May 15 to September 25, 2019. Montreal Impact won their fourth Canadian Championship title (their tenth Voyageurs Cup) and earned a berth in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League.

The competition expanded to thirteen teams with the introduction of the seven Canadian Premier League (CPL) clubs, the most in the competition's history. The 2019 tournament also marked the first time that clubs from Manitoba and Nova Scotia were represented in the Canadian Championship, and the return of clubs from Alberta after none participated in 2018.

Cavalry FC's 2–1 aggregate defeat of Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the tournament's third qualifying round marked the first time in the history of the Canadian Championship that an MLS team was defeated by a non-MLS team in a home-and-away series.

Ignacio Piatti was the tournament's top scorer with four goals and won the George Gross Memorial Trophy, while Zachary Brault-Guillard received the inaugural Best Young Canadian Player award for the best Canadian player of the tournament aged 21 or younger.^[1]

Format[]

The format of the competition was changed to include the seven CPL clubs, and consisted of three qualifying rounds before semi-finals and a final. All rounds were played in a two-legged tie format. In the first qualifying round, the League1 Ontario champion Vaughan Azzurri, Première Ligue de soccer du Québec champion A.S. Blainville, and four CPL clubs entered the competition. They were joined by the remaining three CPL clubs (given byes due to previously competing or being sanctioned earlier than the other clubs)^[2] in the second qualifying round. In the third qualifying round, Ottawa Fury FC and two Major League Soccer teams entered. The previous year's champion, Toronto FC, received a bye to the semi-final.^[3]

Distribution[]

Distribution of teams for 2019 Canadian Championship

Round	Teams entering in this round	Teams advancing from previous round
First qualifying round (6 teams)	1 champion of League1 Ontario 1 champion of Première Ligue de soccer du Québec 4 Canadian Premier League teams
Second qualifying round (6 teams)	3 Canadian Premier League "inaugural teams"	3 winners from the first qualifying round
Third qualifying round (6 teams)	1 USL Championship team 2 Major League Soccer teams	3 winners from the second qualifying round
Semi-finals (4 teams)	1 champion of 2018 Canadian Championship	3 winners from the third qualifying round
Final (2 teams)		2 winners from the semi-finals

Qualified clubs[]

Club	Location	League	Previous best	Prior appearances
A.S. Blainville	Blainville, Quebec	Première Ligue de soccer du Québec	Second qualifying round: 1	1
Cavalry FC	Foothills County, Alberta	Canadian Premier League	N/A	0
FC Edmonton	Edmonton, Alberta	Canadian Premier League	Semi-finals: 5	7
Forge FC	Hamilton, Ontario	Canadian Premier League	N/A	0
HFX Wanderers	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Canadian Premier League	N/A	0
Montreal Impact	Montreal, Quebec	Major League Soccer	Champions: 3	11
Ottawa Fury	Ottawa, Ontario	USL Championship	Semi-finals: 3	5
Pacific FC	Langford, British Columbia	Canadian Premier League	N/A	0
Toronto FC	Toronto, Ontario	Major League Soccer	Champions: 7	11
Valour FC	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Canadian Premier League	N/A	0
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Vancouver, British Columbia	Major League Soccer	Champions: 1	11
Vaughan Azzurri	Vaughan, Ontario	League1 Ontario	N/A	0
York9 FC	Toronto, Ontario	Canadian Premier League	N/A	0

Note

• Statistics include previous incarnations of FC Edmonton, Montreal Impact, and Vancouver Whitecaps

Schedule[]

Round	First leg date	Second leg date	Teams entering
First qualifying round	May 15	May 22	6 (A.S. Blainville, Cavalry FC, HFX Wanderers, Pacific FC, Vaughan Azzurri, York9 FC)
Second qualifying round	June 4/5	June 11/12	3 (FC Edmonton, Forge FC, Valour FC)
Third qualifying round	July 10	July 24	3 (Montreal Impact, Ottawa Fury, Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Semi-finals	August 7	August 14	1 (Toronto FC)
Final	September 18	September 25	N/A

Bracket[]

The draw was held on February 12, 2019.^[4]

	First qualifying round May 15 & 22						Second qualifying round June 4–5 & 11–12						Third qualifying round July 10 & 24						Semi-finals August 7 & 14						Final September 18 & 25
	A.S. Blainville	0	0	0
	York9	0	1	1
							York9	3	0	3
							FC Edmonton	1	1	2
													York9	2	0	2
													Montreal Impact	2	1	3
																			Montreal Impact	2	1	3
																			Cavalry FC	1	0	1
							Forge FC	1	1	2
							Cavalry FC	1	2	3
	Pacific FC	0	1	1
	Cavalry FC	2	2	4
													Cavalry FC	0	2	2
													Vancouver Whitecaps FC	0	1	1
																									Montreal Impact (p)	1	0	1 (3)
																									Toronto FC	0	1	1 (1)
	Vaughan Azzurri	2	1	3
	HFX Wanderers (a)	3	0	3
							HFX Wanderers	2	2	4
							Valour FC	1	0	1
													HFX Wanderers	2	2	4
													Ottawa Fury	3	2	5
																			Ottawa Fury	0	0	0
																			Toronto FC	2	3	5

First qualifying round[]

Summary[]

The first legs were held on May 15, and the second legs on May 22, 2019.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Vaughan Azzurri	3–3 (a)	HFX Wanderers	2–3	1–0
Pacific FC	1–4[A]	Cavalry FC	0–2	1–2
A.S. Blainville	0–1	York9 FC	0–0	0–1

Notes

Matches[]

3–3 on aggregate. HFX Wanderers won on away goals.

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Cavalry FC won 4–1 on aggregate.

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York9 won 1–0 on aggregate.

Second qualifying round[]

Summary[]

The first legs were held on June 4 and 5, and the second legs were held on June 11 and 12, 2019.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
York9 FC	3–2	FC Edmonton	3–1	0–1
Forge FC	2–3[A]	Cavalry FC	1–1	1–2
HFX Wanderers	4–1	Valour FC	2–1	2–0

Notes

Matches[]

York9 FC won 3–2 on aggregate.

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Cavalry FC won 3–2 on aggregate.

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HFX Wanderers won 4–1 on aggregate.

Third qualifying round[]

Summary[]

The first legs were held on July 10, and the second legs were held on July 24, 2019.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
HFX Wanderers	4–5	Ottawa Fury	2–3	2–2
York9 FC	2–3	Montreal Impact	2–2	0–1
Cavalry FC	2–1	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	0–0	2–1

Matches[]

Ottawa Fury won 5–4 on aggregate.

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Montreal Impact won 3–2 on aggregate.

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Cavalry FC won 2–1 on aggregate.

Semi-finals[]

Summary[]

The first legs were held on August 7, and the second legs were held on August 14, 2019.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Ottawa Fury	0–5	Toronto FC	0–2	0–3
Montreal Impact	3–1[A]	Cavalry FC	2–1	1–0

Notes

Matches[]

Toronto FC won 5–0 on aggregate.

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Montreal Impact won 3–1 on aggregate.

Final[]

Summary[]

The first leg was held on September 18, and the second leg was held on September 25, 2019.The higher-seeded team in the final, Toronto FC, chose to play the first leg away.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Montreal Impact	1–1 (3–1 p)	Toronto FC	1–0	0–1

Matches[]

1–1 on aggregate. Montreal Impact won 3–1 on penalties.

Goalscorers[]

Rank	Player	Team	Goals	By round
				1Q1	1Q2	2Q1	2Q2	3Q1	3Q2	SF1	SF2	F1	F2
1	Ignacio Piatti	Montreal Impact	4						1	2		1
2	Mohamed Kourouma	HFX Wanderers	3	1		1	1
	Tomasz Skublak	HFX Wanderers		1		1			1
4	Sergio Camargo	Cavalry FC	2				1			1
	Thiago De Freitas	Ottawa Fury						2
	Nick DeLeon	Toronto FC									2
	Tsubasa Endoh	Toronto FC								1			1
	Rodrigo Gattas	York9				1		1
	Dominique Malonga	Cavalry FC				1	1
	Luis Perea	HFX Wanderers						1	1
	Ryan Telfer	York9			1			1
	Dominick Zator	Cavalry FC		1					1

References[]

External links[]

• CBC Sports explanation of the tournament