1990 North American Club Championship

Last updated

North American Club Championship
Pepsi Cup
Swangard stadium Burnaby.jpg
Swangard Stadium hosted the match.
Date26 September 1990 (1990-09-26)
Venue Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, BC
Attendance2,643
1992

The 1990 North American Club Championship, also known as the Pepsi Cup for sponsorship reasons, was a post-season soccer competition contested by the winners from the Canadian Soccer League and the American Professional Soccer League.

Contents

Teams

TeamLeague
Flag of the United States.svg Maryland Bays American Professional Soccer League
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Vancouver 86ers Canadian Soccer League

Background

The Maryland Bays of the American Professional Soccer League qualified for the match after having won the inaugural American Professional Soccer League season by defeating the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks 1–1 (4–3 on penalties) in the final just 3 days earlier. [1]

The Vancouver 86ers qualified by winning the 1989 Canadian Soccer League Championship. [2] [3] At the time of the match, the 1990 Canadian Soccer League was still in its semi-finals phase, with Vancouver having just played to a 2–2 draw at the Victoria Vistas in game one. [4]

The Vancouver 86ers were selected to host the match at Swangard Stadium.

Results summary

Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Vancouver 86ers Round Flag of the United States.svg Maryland Bays
Regular season
1989 Canadian Soccer League
West Division: 1st place

PosTeamPldPts
1 Vancouver 86ers 2642
2 Edmonton Brick Men 2621
3 Calgary Strikers 2619
4 Winnipeg Fury 2619
5 Victoria Vistas 2614
Final standings 1990 American Professional Soccer League
Eastern Conference, North Division: 1st place

PosTeamPldPts
1 Maryland Bays 2044
2 Albany Capitals 2042
3 Penn-Jersey Spirit 2039
4 Boston Bolts 2028
5 Washington Stars 2021
Source: [ citation needed ]
OpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legPlayoffsOpponentSeries1st leg2nd leg
byeConference Semifinals Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 – 02–1 (A)4–1 (H)
Edmonton Brick Men 9–35–3 (A)4–0 (H)Conference Finals Fort Lauderdale Strikers 2 – 03–2 (H)2–0 (A)
Hamilton Steelers 3–2 (H)Final San Francisco Bay Blackhawks 1–1 (4–3 p.) (N)

Match

Summary

The Vancouver 86ers dominated the first half of the match and took only fourteen minutes to open the scoring, with Domenic Mobilio finding the net after a series of short passes in the offensive end. Vancouver had a great opportunity to double their lead in the thirty-sixth minute after being awarded a penalty kick, however Steve Powers was able to deny Mobilio's second goal with a heroic punch of the ball. Despite the miss, Maryland would concede again four minutes later after Powers was rounded by Dale Mitchell to put Vancouver 2–0 up. This two goal lead did not last for long however, as Maryland's Kevin Sloan was able to exploit a defensive mistake and quickly slotted the ball past 86er goalkeeper, Paul Dolan, to keep them in the game in the forty-fourth minute.

The second half saw a change in both teams' performance, with Maryland looking much more hostile while Vancouver appeared to have lost their composure and intensity. Maryland leveled the game in the sixty-eighth minute courtesy of a Jean Harbor strike. Maryland had several more opportunities to score before full time, most notably when Maryland's John Abe struck the crossbar, and when Vancouver's Vlado Vanis was able to clear a Scott Cook shot off the goal line, but were unable to find a winner as the match went into extra-time.

After escaping defeat during their poor second half performance, Vancouver turned up in extra-time with much more energy, and eventually found the winner with just three minutes remaining as Mobilio scored his second of the match, making up for his first half penalty miss and securing the title for Vancouver. [5]

Details

Championship
Vancouver 86ers Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg3–2 (a.e.t.)Flag of the United States.svg Maryland Bays
A-League archives
[Vancouver Sun [6] ]
GK Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Paul Dolan
Flag placeholder.svg Vlado Vanis
Flag of the United States.svg Stephen Burns Yellow card.svg
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Carl Valentine
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Domenic Mobilio
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg John Catliff
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Dale Mitchell
Substitutes:
Manager:
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Bob Lenarduzzi
GK Flag of the United States.svg Steve Powers
Flag of the United States.svg Darryl Gee
Flag of the United States.svg Chris Reif
Flag of the United States.svg Jeff Nattans
Flag of the United States.svg Joe Barger
Flag of the United States.svg John Abe
Flag of the United States.svg Omid Namazi
Flag of the United States.svg Rob Ryerson Yellow card.svg
Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Sloan Sub off.svg 62'
Flag of the United States.svg Phillip Gyau
Flag of Niger.svg Jean Harbor Yellow card.svg
Substitutes:
Flag of the United States.svg Scott Cook Sub on.svg 62'
Manager:
Flag of the United States.svg Pete Caringi Jr.

Result

North American Club Championship
1990 Winners
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg
Vancouver 86ers
First title

Match statistics

Statistic [7] VancouverMaryland
Goals scored32
Total shots2210
Shots on target105
Saves37
Corner kicks73
Offsides12
Yellow Cards02
Red Cards00

Aftermath

The Vancouver 86ers continued their winning ways in game 2 of the CSL semi-finals and defeated the Victoria Vistas 6–1 at Swangard Stadium just four days later to advance to the 1990 Canadian Soccer League Final. Vancouver then won their third playoff title following another 6–1 home victory against the Hamilton Steelers, and secured a treble of sorts, having won their, regular season, playoffs, and the North American Club Championship. [8] [9]

The North American Club Championship was not continued after the 1990 season, however a similar competition in 1992 was created as the Professional Cup to determine a North American champion from 3 professional leagues operating in Canada and the United States.

See also

References

  1. "Bays win, get trip to Canada, too". newspapers.com (Baltimore Sun). September 24, 1990. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  2. MacIntyre, Iain (September 27, 1990). "Bays beaten in overtime, 3-2, in North American title game Mobilio's goal lifts Vancouver". The Baltimore Sun .
  3. "Canadian Soccer History". Ottawa Fury SC . Archived from the original on February 7, 2012.
  4. Keating, Jack (September 23, 1990). "Vistas show flair in tie with 86ers". The Province . p. 9.
  5. Stinson, Dan (September 27, 1990). "86ers regain form in overtime". Vancouver Sun. p. 25.
  6. Stinson, Dan (September 27, 1990). "86ers regain form in overtime". Vancouver Sun. p. 25.
  7. "Soccer". Vancouver Sun. September 27, 1990. p. C5. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  8. Stinson, Dan (October 9, 1990). "Catliff lifts 86ers to third title". Vancouver Sun. p. 29.
  9. "86ers romp to third CSL title". Nanaimo Daily News. October 9, 1990. p. 15.