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VIDEO: Vancouver FC鈥檚 very first home game ends with a tie

Crowd filled new 91原创 stadium

Shaan Hundal scored his third goal of the season for Vancouver FC in front of a capacity crowd for the team鈥檚 very first home game at its just-completed stadium in 91原创鈥檚 Willoughby Park, a 1-1 tie against Calgary Cavalry.

Shaan Hundal scored his third goal of the season for Vancouver FC in front of a capacity crowd for the team聮s very first home game at its just-completed stadium in 91原创聮s Willoughby Park, a 1-1 tie against Calgary Cavalry. (Dan Ferguson/91原创 Advance Times)
Shaan Hundal scored his third goal of the season for Vancouver FC in front of a capacity crowd for the team鈥檚 very first home game at its just-completed stadium in 91原创鈥檚 Willoughby Park, a 1-1 tie against Calgary Cavalry. (Dan Ferguson/91原创 Advance Times)

Vancouver managed the draw despite an early red card penalty, to Rocco Romeo,that forced the team to play short one player, and led to Calgary scoring first to take the lead 1-0, courtesy of Mikael Cantave.

But just six minutes later, Hundal scored for Vancouver.

He currently leads the team in goals, with three in as many games.

The tie came after three league matches on the road, and extended Vancouver FC鈥檚 undefeated streak to three games, the most recent a 1-1 draw against the Halifax Wanderers FC, while the Cavalry remain winless.

鈥淚t was special,鈥 head coach Afshin Ghotbi said after the game. 鈥淚 feel like the stadium is very intimate, every fan feels like they can see the sweat of every player. Then as a coach, I can feel all the fans behind us, and I think they really inspired our players to dig deep today when they were tired just to make that extra run.鈥

Vancouver FC鈥檚 Ibrahim Bakare was named player of the match.

Offensively, Bakare had a shot, completed four dribbles and made eight passes into the final third, while defensively, he had six tackles, two blocks, eight clearances, four recoveries and won 16/21 of his duels.

Another bit of history was made Sunday when Taryck 鈥淭J鈥 Tahid took the field to become the youngest player in Canadian Premier League history at 16 years 17 days of age.

Substituting for Gabriel Bitarm Tahid became the youngest CPL player to register professional minutes.

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Vancouver FC supporter Chris Canziani, who lives a few blocks away from the stadium, said it was nice to have a pro soccer team 鈥渟ort of out in the valley.鈥

鈥淚 was out at the first inaugural game, on the island against Pacific FC, and I was blown away by the support,鈥 Canziai said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really cool to see that for a team that had never existed, and never played before so I鈥檓 really curious to see how it goes here. I鈥檓 excited to see what we do with the new team in the city here.鈥

Calgary Cavalry fan Logan Krupa flew out with some friends to cheer on their team.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all 鈥淐avs鈥 season ticket holders,鈥 Krupa told the 91原创 Advance Times. 鈥淎nd for most of us, this is our first ever Cavalry FC away day, so we鈥檙e excited to be out here. We鈥檙e excited to be supporting a new club for the league and experiencing their first ever home game.鈥

More photos from the day can be viewed online at the .

Vancouver returns to the 91原创 field on Saturday, May 13th, when they host Atl茅tico Ottawa. Game starts at 6:30 p.m.


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Dan Ferguson

About the Author: Dan Ferguson

Best recognized for my resemblance to St. Nick, I鈥檓 the guy you鈥檒l often see out at community events and happenings around town.
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