The Vancouver Whitecaps know they wear a mighty target when it comes to the Canadian Championship.
The club has hoisted the Voyageurs Cup four years in a row and are looking to become the first team to ever collect five consecutive titles.
The journey continues Wednesday when the ‘Caps host fellow Major League Soccer side CF Montreal in the first leg of a two-game semifinal series.
“In this tournament, everyone wants to take down the champions, right?” said goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer. “So (Montreal’s) going to come with the same mindset (Canadian Premier League) teams come at us with. They’re going up against a big opponent, and they want to try to take us down, and it’s our job to to stop that from happening and to go win it again.
“It’s another huge step for this club, and we’re really looking forward to taking it.”
Striker Brian White has won four Canadian Championships with the Whitecaps. The prospect of adding a historic fifth title is enticing, he said.
“No matter what the competition is, it’s tough to win back to back, let alone five in a row,” he said. “It would be it would be a special moment for sure.”
Vancouver (13-4-4) heads into the matchup sitting first in the MLS Western Conference standings following a 3-0 road win over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.
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Montreal (5-11-6) sit second last in the Eastern Conference after getting thumped 7-1 by Inter Miami in a game where Lionel Messi scored four goals.
That result could make le Bleu-blanc-noir all the more hungry heading into Wednesday’s tilt.
“They haven’t had the greatest season, so (the Canadian Championship) is kind of their opportunity to really come away this season with something worthwhile,” said Whitecaps striker Brian White.
“And obviously they have some great players – they have Alexis Sanchez, Prince has had a really good season, Daniel Rios. They have good players. Obviously, the season hasn’t gone the way they would have liked. But on any given day, any team can win. So we have to be at our very best.”
Montreal will host the second game of the two-legged series at Stade Saputo on Sept. 16.
It’s important the ‘Caps put themselves in a solid position for that contest with a good result on Wednesday, said head coach Jesper Sorensen.
“It’s gonna be a different kind of game also because with the two legs you’re not allowed to make any big mistakes and you’re not allowed to have a bad game,” he said. “So it’s important that we’re ready for it.”
The Danish tactician experienced the Canadian Championship for the first time last year, and is taking the lessons he learned into the 2026 edition.
“Every game is different and difficult,” Sorensen said of the tournament. “We will be favourites in this tournament for as long as we’re in it. And we accept that, obviously, and we have ambitions where we would like to win it. But it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy, and it doesn’t mean that every game doesn’t possess some kind of different challenge.”
Both Montreal and Vancouver overcame CPL sides in this year’s quarterfinals, with the Whitecaps dispatching Cavalry FC 5-2 on aggregate while Montreal topped Vancouver FC 4-2 over the two-legged series.
The tournament’s other semifinal features a pair of CPL teams, with FC Supra du Quebec drawing 1-1 against Forge FC of Hamilton in their opener in Laval, Que., on Tuesday.
Every year, competition for the Voyageurs Cup grows stronger as teams across the country grow stronger, said Boehmer, who hails from Penticton, B.C.
“I think you see in Canadian soccer, it’s growing every year. Having the World Cup here this year, then you know you see CPL teams, lots of players starting to make moves,” the keeper said.
“So I think the growth of the league in Canada and football in general in British Columbia has really helped this tournament grow and it’s helped Canada soccer grow.”
© 2026 The Canadian Press
