MONTREAL -- Matteo Mancosu and Jozy Altidore traded goals in the first half and the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC played to a 1-1 draw Wednesday night in the first leg of the Canadian Championship final.
Montreal opened the scoring in the 19th minute. Blerim Dzemaili played a corner kick out to Marco Donadel, whose low shot was juggled by goalkeeper Clint Irwin, with Mancosu on the doorstep to head the ball in.
Toronto countered in the 30th minute. Montreal defender Daniel Lovitz was on the ground injured after a pileup with Steven Beitashour, but referee Silviu Petrescu let play go on as the ball was passed to the unmarked Altidore to score with a low shot from 18 yards
The second leg of the two-game series is Tuesday night in Toronto.
If Toronto FC wins, it will earn a berth next year in the CONCACAF Champions League. If Montreal wins, it must play Toronto again in August in a one-game playoff, to see which team will go to the CCL.
Toronto won the cup last year but was deprived of a Champions League berth because of a format change, creating the possible need for a playoff.