for the 2009 canadian championship, the montreal impact were eliminated early to the disappointment of fans. in the final match of the voyageurs cup, with the impact already eliminated, head coach marc dos santos decision to field a number of reserve team players drew controversy from fans of both the impact and vancouver whitecaps fc. the team went on to suffer its worst defeat in history, by losing 6–1 to archrival toronto fc of major league soccer. toronto fc needed to win by 4 goals to advance to the concacaf champions league 2009-10 preliminary round. as a result, the vancouver whitecaps fc were eliminated on goal differential, despite holding the same record as toronto fc.