OttawaAtlético Ottawa have been eliminated from the Canadian Championship on aggregate (3-2) despite defeating Vancouver FC 1-0 Thursday night.Atlético’s 1-0 win Thursday night was not enough to overcome its 3-1 deficitJayden Dill · CBC News · Posted: Sep 19, 2025 12:15 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes agoAtlético Ottawa bow out of the Canadian Championship after losing to Vancouver FC 3-2 on aggregate. (Philippe Larivière/Atlético Ottawa)Atlético Ottawa have been eliminated from the Canadian Championship, bursting all hope of reaching its first tournament final in club history.Although the football club defeated Vancouver FC 1-0 last night, they crashed out of the competition on aggregate (3-2).”That’s football,” head coach Diego Mejía told reporters at a post game press conference.”We didn’t lose the [contest] tonight, we lost the [contest] in the first match.”Following a 3-1 defeat in Vancouver Aug. 13, Atlético needed to win the game with a two-goal advantage to force a penalty shootout at the very least.But the second goal never came.”I’m really proud of my team, because they pushed all the time to look for a result,” Mejía said. “There’s nothing more to say; it hurts a lot.”Vancouver’s defence proved the differenceThe visitors from the west coast happily sat back in the second-half and defended their two-goal advantage, allowing Ottawa 76 per cent of ball possession.But Atlético struggled to find the back of the net, despite whipping in 30 crosses and taking 15 shots at goal. “I thought we defended extremely well today,” said Vancouver head coach Martin Nash. “I don’t think we gave them a ton of chances.”The visitors had a tough task at hand, facing Atlético’s talisman Sam Salter, who leads the Canadian Premier League for regular season goals, and forward David Rodriguez, who tops the assists charts. Outside the costly mistake that led to Rodriguez scoring Ottawa’s only goal moments before halftime, Vancouver’s backline stood firm.Some Ottawa players acknowledged their opponent’s defensive display.”They defended well,” Atlético Midfielder Manuel Aparicio said. “Credit to them as well, they knew what they were coming for. They knew their game plan.”We tried our way and we tried to break them down, but you know, we could only get one.” There’s more to play forThere’s little time to bemoan yesterday’s defeat.Aparicio said his teammates will take the night off before turning their attention to the remaining league fixtures.Mejía said his side has the ability to erase tonight’s defeat from their mind and concentrate on Sunday’s performance.”We have a very important game in two days,” Mejía said.Atlético trail first place Forge FC by two points in the Canadian Premier League, but a win against the Hamilton giants would catapult them to the top of the table with five matches remaining. Atlético is in contention to win the Canadian Premier League Shield if they finish first-place in the regular season and the North Star Cup if they conquer the playoff format to conclude the season.”We have everything to play for,” Aparicio said. “We know what’s at stake and we want to lift trophies this year. Obviously one of our objectives is gone, but we have to focus and regroup and keep going.”ABOUT THE AUTHORJayden Dill is a journalist with CBC Ottawa and the Parliamentary Bureau. You can reach him at jayden.dill@cbc.caWith files from Jonathan Jobin
Atlético Ottawa’s 1-0 win over Vancouver not enough to reach Canadian Championship final
