Lightning forces cancellation of game between Toronto FC and Whitecaps

A relentless lightning storm has forced the abandonment of the Canadian Nutrilite Championship final between Toronto FC and the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Whitecaps led Toronto 1-0 and had the Voyageurs Trophy in their sights in the second of the two-game, total goals series Wednesday when officials sent the teams to the dressing room in the 60th minute — the second delay on a soggy affair.

The game will be replayed in its entirety.

After the teams played to a 1-1 draw in last week’s opener, the Whitecaps took control of the series in the 17th minute Wednesday when Eric Hassli fired a low, hard left-footed strike that took a wild deflection off the foot of Julian de Guzman and sailed past TFC ‘keeper Stefan Frei into the left corner of Toronto’s net.

But the deplorable conditions became the story of the night, making for an ugly affair as players splashed and slipped around on a soggy BMO Field pitch that was pounded by sideways sheets of rain and strong winds off Lake Ontario. A good chunk of shivering fans made a dash for the nearest cover when the rain started early in the game and never let up. A nearby lightning strike just before halftime forced a 45-minute delay to start the second half.

The water-logged pitch was nearly unplayable in the second half — one pass back to Frei stopped dead and the ‘keeper had to sprint out to boot the ball out of danger. Officials sent both teams to their dressing rooms again in the 60th minute following another lightning strike, and the fans that still remained were instructed to leave the stadium.

Canadian Soccer Association officials were keen to finish the game, since both teams have Major League Soccer games scheduled for Saturday — Toronto is home to Philadelphia while the Whitecaps host the New York Red Bulls.

But the lightning wasn’t letting up and the forecast called for 20 to 30 millimetres of rain to fall through the night in the city. Complicating matters, the stadium lights were pre-scheduled to shut off at 11:30 p.m.

The game’s four officials met with Toronto’s head coach Aron Winter and Vancouver coach Teitur Thordarson at centre field at one point, a referee bending to scoop a puddle of water in his hands. They finally decided to abandon the game after a delay of more than an hour.

The cancellation was bad news for the Whitecaps, whose back line had Toronto’s offence bottled up for most of the shortened affair.

Toronto’s leading scorer Maicon Santos had a decent scoring chance in the 41st minute, but under pressure from Whitecaps defender Jay DeMerit, his shot from the left corner of the 18-yard box sailed wide left.

Toronto’s best chance, though, came a minute before the game was called off when Joao Plata connected on a cross from Nick Soolsma that Whitecaps ‘keeper Jay Nolly managed to just corral on the goal-line.

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.

Toronto, which is looking for its third Nutrilite Canadian title, had salvaged its draw last week in Vancouver when Santos scored the all-important away goal in the 73rd minute. Hassli scored Vancouver’s lone goal in that game as well.

The Canadian champion faces Nicaragua’s Real Esteli FC in the preliminary round of 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League. The first leg will be in Canada July 26-28, while the match in Nicaragua will fall somewhere between Aug. 2 and 4.

The Montreal Impact won the first Nutrilite title in 2008, while Toronto won in 2009 and 2010. Last summer, Toronto made it through the preliminary round in the 2010-11 Champions League to make the group stage, but got no further.

Vancouver has just one win to show for its less-than-sparkling MLS debut. The Whitecaps’ only victory in 11 league matches was their 4-2 victory over Toronto in their opener at Empire Field.