Steve Cherundolo era comes to an end as LAFC loses on penalty kicks to Vancouver in an instant playoff classic

Defender Mathias Laborda scored a first-half goal before delivering the winner in a penalty-kick shootout and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat Los Angeles FC 6-5 in a Western Conference semifinal on Saturday night before a club-record crowd of 53,957 at BC Place.

The second-seeded Whitecaps advance to their first Western Conference final after the two clubs played to a 2-2 draw through regulation and 30 minutes of overtime.

The game marked the end of the tenure for LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo, who announced earlier this year that this would be his final season managing the black and gold. Cherundolo won an MLS Cup, Supporter’s Shield, and. U.S. Open Cup during his four years as manager of the Rams and also took his team to multiple Finals, including the CONCACAF Champions League. Earlier this year, he led LAFC to a comeback victory over Club America that guaranteed the club a $10 million payout for their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Son Heung-Min, who scored twice in the second half to pull LAFC even, banged his shot off the post to open the penalty-kick shootout while Sebastian Berhalter scored on the Whitecaps’ first attempt. LAFC’s Denis Bouanga and Vancouver’s Jayden Nelson traded goals before Marco Delgado sent his shot over the goal for LAFC. Ryan Gauld scored to give the Whitecaps a 3-1 lead but LAFC evened the score before Laborda found the net.

Vancouver advances to the conference final for the first time since joining the league in 2011. They await the winner of Monday’s match between expansion side San Diego FC, the No. 1 seed, and fourth-seeded Minnesota United.

Vancouver took a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute when goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka kicked the ball three-quarters the length of the field to a streaking Emmanuel Sabbi, who finished for his first postseason goal in his third appearance.

The Whitecaps took a two-goal lead into halftime after Laborda scored unassisted in the first minute of stoppage time. It was Laborda’s first postseason goal in seven appearances over the past three seasons.

LAFC cut it to 2-1 early in the second half on an unassisted goal by Son in the 60th minute. It was Son’s first postseason goal in his third appearance after scoring nine goals in 10 appearances during the regular season.

Son delivered a second goal, scoring unassisted off a free kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time to tie it.

Takaoka totaled six saves for the Whitecaps. He has allowed a total of 12 goals over nine postseason starts in the past three seasons.

Hugo Lloris saved four shots for No. 3 seed LAFC in his seventh playoff start over the past two seasons.

The Whitecaps lost in their two previous trips to the semifinals in 2015 and 2017.

Source: NBC Los Angeles