🏆 LAFC win US Open Cup in extra-time; Vancouver crowned Canadian champs

There were a pair of cup finals in North America this evening as the US Open Cup and the Canadian Championship arrived at their crescendos. Not only did two teams take home the trophies, but the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup gained two more participants. Here is what went down.

LAFC 3-1 Sporting KC (AET)

Scorers: Giroud 53′, Campos 102′, Kamara 110′ ; Thommy 60′

LAFC were rampant in the opening 30 minutes, creating a bundle of scoring chances that somehow could not find their way into the back of the Sporting KC net.

The dam finally broke after the restart when Olivier Giroud tapped home a picture-perfect Mateusz Bogusz cross to set the Los Angeles crowd alight, and snatch the lead for the hosts.

However, that lead would only last seven minutes thanks to a rip-roaring SKC counter-attack which was capped off by an Erik Thommy effort that found its way past Hugo Lloris.

The two MLS sides traded chances in the dying minutes, but both keepers stood tall. Like the Canadian Championship before it, time quickly ebbed away with the two sides still deadlocked. This time however, the showdown went to extra-time.

In the extra session the hosts’ attacking prowess prevailed once again, though it was the unlikely source of Omar Campos who came off the bench to bag the apparent winner.

The icing on the cake came in the 110th minute when veteran striker Kei Kamara, also a late substitute, pulled one of his vintage headers to wrap up the final.

Vancouver Whitecaps 0-0 Toronto FC

Vancouver secured the cup for the third straight season after penalty shootout heroics from backup keeper Isaac Boehmer.

The visitors dominated the ball from the off, and they were rewarded for their efforts when Richie Laryea was taken down in the box to earn Toronto a chance from the penalty-spot.

But the attempt from 12 yards from Federico Bernardeschi was poor, allowing Isaac Boehmer to come up huge with a save.

Quality attacking moves were few and far between as neither side seemed all too keen to make the one fatal mistake and lose the final.

The Whitecaps were forced to fend off a flurry of late Toronto corners, but the visitors could not sneak home the winner in the dying moments.

In penalties however, the winner was finally decided when Vancouver keeper Isaac Boehmer put on a hero’s display, saving two Toronto spot-kicks and win his side the trophy.