Vancouver Whitecaps advance over Pumas to face Messi's Inter Miami in the Champions Cup semifinals

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tristan Blackmon scored a stoppage-time equalizer to help Vancouver Whitecaps earn a 2-2 draw with Pumas on Wednesday and book a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.

Sebastian Berhalter put Vancouver ahead in the 33rd minute but the Mexican club responded with goals from Guillermo Martinez in the 37th and Ignacio Pussetto in the 88th to take a 2-1 lead. Blackmon sealed the semifinal spot three minutes into stoppage time as the Whitecaps advanced on away goals.

“The team worked hard tonight, and we put ourselves in position to score late,” Blackmon said. “It was always not pretty, but we showed grit and at the end of the day we got the result that we wanted.”

The first leg of the series ended in a 1-1 draw. Vancouver has not played in the Champions Cup semifinals since 2017 and is trying to win the tournament for the first time.

To do that, it must beat Inter Miami, which advanced 3-1 over LA FC to qualify for the semifinals for the first time.

“First of all, we need to recover from this and then we will be ready for that,” Blackmon said.

On the way to the semifinals, the Whitecaps, the team with the best record in the MLS this season, defeated three Mexican teams — Santos Torreon, Monterrey Rayados and Pumas.

On the other side of the tournament’s bracket, six-time CONCACAF champion Cruz Azul will face off in the semifinals against 2020 champion Tigres.

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Sebastian Berhalter of Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps, left, celebrates scoring his side's opening goal with teammate Ranko Veselinovic against Mexico's Pumas during a CONCACAF Champions Cup second leg quarterfinal soccer match in Mexico City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Piero Quispe of Mexico's Pumas, left, and Andres Cubas of Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps vie for the ball during a CONCACAF Champions Cup second leg quarterfinal soccer match in Mexico City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Jose Caicedo of Mexico's Pumas, back, challenges Ali Ahmed of Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps during a CONCACAF Champions Cup second leg quarterfinal soccer match in Mexico City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Guillermo Martinez of Mexico's Pumas celebrates scoring his side's first goal against Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps during a CONCACAF Champions Cup second leg quarterfinal soccer match in Mexico City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Guillermo Martinez of Mexico's Pumas celebrates scoring his side's first goal against Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps during a CONCACAF Champions Cup second leg quarterfinal soccer match in Mexico City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Rogelio Funes Mori of Mexico's Pumas reacts at the end of a CONCACAF Champions Cup second leg quarterfinal soccer match against Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps in Mexico City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Tristan Blackmon of Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps (33) is congratulated after scoring his side's 2nd goal against Mexico's Pumas during a CONCACAF Champions Cup second leg quarterfinal soccer match in Mexico City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Columbus Blue Jackets fired coach Dean Evason and named hockey-lifer Rick Bowness as his replacement on Monday.

Evason is the first NHL coach fired this season. General manager Don Waddell announced the abrupt change with his team sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference 45 games into the season with a record of 19-19-7.

“This season has been a frustrating one for all of us and the bottom line is we are not performing at a level that meets our expectations," Waddell said. "We all share in that responsibility, me included, and while this was not a decision that was made lightly, it is one that needed to be made at this time. Dean did a tremendous job last year under extremely difficult circumstances, and I thank him for that."

Assistant Steve McCarthy, who had been with the organization for nearly a decade, was also fired.

Bowness is back in the league after he retired in the spring of 2024, ending a stint with the Winnipeg Jets. Bowness, who coached Dallas to the Stanley Cup Final in the 2020 pandemic bubble, turns 71 on Jan. 25.

“Rick Bowness is a tremendous coach with invaluable experience and knowledge, and he will bring a steadiness to our team at an important juncture in our season,” Waddell said. “He is a good communicator whose teams play with structure, are sound defensively and we believe he is the right person to bring out the best in our group.”

Bowness during his lengthy career has been head coach for seven different teams, dating to the original Jets in 1988. He did some broadcasting with TNT since stepping away from his most recent job in Winnipeg.

Evason was just past the midway point of his second season in charge of the Blue Jackets. Waddell’s first order of business upon becoming GM was to fire then-coach Pascal Vincent and put Evason behind the bench.

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FILE - Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness yells during the first period of Game 4 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series April 28, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Columbus Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason watches his team during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)