Marcus Haber's penalty-kick in the 81st minute vaulted the the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Montreal Impact in Nutrilite Canadian soccer championship action Wednesday night.
The Whitecaps (0-0-1) earned a point in their first appearance in the three-team round-robin tournament involving Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.
Peter Byers scored for the Impact, which dropped to 0-1-1 a week after losing to Toronto FC 2-0 in the Nutrilite opener.
Haber's spot kick was awarded after Montreal defender Adam Braz received his second yellow card of the night -- and third of the tournament -- for fouling Vancouver's Greg Janicki. The two were both going up to play Whitecap midfielder Martin Nash's free kick from the right edge of the 18-yard box.
Haber stepped up and booted his penalty shot to the right side of the net while Montreal goalkeeper Matt Jordan guessed wrong and dove the other way.
Vancouver second-half substitute Marlon James had a chance to win the game in extra time but his shot went just wide of the net after eluding Jordan.
Byers had put the Impact ahead 1-0 in the 31st minute as he ran on to a through ball from midfielder Tony Donatelli, a former Whitecap, and beat Vancouver 'keeper Jay Nolly cleanly with a straight-on shot from close range.
The Impact surrendered its first point to Vancouver in six league or tournament games after posting five straight victories.
The winner of the three-team round-robin tournament between Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto FC will advance to next stage of North American, Central American and Caribbean zone qualifying for FIFA's club World Cup.
Wednesday's meeting was the first between the Impact and Whitecaps since the Impact downed the Whitecaps 6-3 in the 2009 United Soccer Leagues Division One two-game aggregate goal home and away final series. The Impact also denied the Whitecaps a Canadian title last year by losing 6-1 to Toronto. TFC claimed the crown based on a better goal differential.
Montreal coach Marc Dos Santo has admitted he deliberately fielded a weak side comprised mainly of reserve players in that game to help his club improve its chances of winning the league championship.
Montreal's Reda Agourram was red-carded in the final minute for striking a Whitecap.
Vancouver started strong and controlled play earlier, but rarely threatened afterwards.
Braz received his first yellow in the 20th minute for a hard tackle on Haber, who came up limping but stayed in the game.
Four minutes later, Vancouver Nolly punched Rocco Placentino's header over the bar.
Vancouver was credited with three first-half shots but Jordan was not credited with a single save.
In the second half, Montreal defender Hicham Aaboubou received a yellow card as lined up to take a free kick, motioned as if he were going to kick the ball, and then left it for goalkeeper Jordan.
For most of the final 45 minutes, Montreal was content to keep most players back on its side of the pitch. But the Whitecaps kept pressing to set the stage for Haber's late heroics.
NOTES: Montreal played without leading scorer Roberto Brown, who served the first of a two-game suspension for punching Toronto FC defender Nick Garcia in last week's loss. . . The Impact also suspended the Panamanian striker indefinitely while the Canadian Soccer Association fined him $1,500. . . Vancouver defenders Takashi Hirano (knee), Blake Wenger (foot) and Mouloud Akloul (ankle) and midfielder Nizar Khalfan (quadriceps) sat out with injuries. . .Montreal's injured absentees were Eduardo Sebrango (thigh), who is a former Whitecap, and defender Stefano Pesoli. . . The Impact has four ex-Whitecaps on its roster.
