Tomas Chancalay scored the lone goal as the New England Revolution beat Club Atletico Independiente de La Chorrera 1–0 on Wednesday in the first leg of a CONCACAF Champions Cup opening-round match at Llano Marin, Panama.
The second leg of the total-goal, two-match series will be played on Feb. 29 in Foxborough, Mass.
In the 54th minute, New England’s Nacho Gil, near the halfway line, sent in a long centering that teammate Giacomo Vrioni headed down. Chancalay ran onto the ball in the top of the penalty area and drove his shot into the ground but saw it bounce over the head of leaping Independiente goalie Eddie Roberts.
The Revolution wound up with a 21–10 edge in shot attempts and a 6-2 advantage in shots on target.
The series’ winner will move on to face Costa Rica’s Alajuelense in the round of 16.
Facundo Torres scored twice as the Lions cruised to a comfortable victory over their Canadian foe in the first leg of their series at Langford, British Columbia.
The second leg will be played Tuesday in Orlando, with the winner moving on to face Mexico’s Tigres UANL in the round of 16.
Duncan McGuire opened the scoring in the 21st minute, knocking in a 6-yard volley off a cross from Martín Ojeda.
In the 38th minute, Torres cut inside from the right flank and fired a 20-yard shot past Cavalry goalie Marco Carducci. Dagur Thorhallsson picked up an assist on the goal.
Torres completed an impressive team counterattack by heading home Ivan Angulo’s pass from short range in the 75th minute
