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Ottawa’s Joaquim Coulanges, left, battles with Nashville’s Jordan Knight during a Concacaf Champions Cup match in Hamilton, Ont., on Tuesday. (Michael Chisholm/OneSoccer/Concacaf)
Nashville SC scored two second-half goals to beat Atlético Ottawa Tuesday in the region’s champions tournament.
The Canadian Premier League (CPL) playoff champions made their international debut in the Concacaf Champions Cup against Major League Soccer’s Nashville side, winners of the U.S. Open Cup domestic tournament.
Former CPLer Woobens Pacius scored in the 66th minute and Sam Surridge added a second in stoppage time for a 2-0 Nashville win.
Nashville outshot Ottawa 18-5, with seven shots on target compared to Ottawa’s one.
Atlético was left searching the country for a home stadium when the turf at TD place was ripped up as part of Lansdowne 2.0 construction.
The team ended up landing the Hamilton Stadium, home of rivals Forge FC, as a venue for its first ever international match.
Major players depart
Coming off the back of its first North Star Cup, Atlético has lost familiar firepower.
The team earned its ticket into the champions cup when they defeated Cavalry FC 2-1 in a snowy-CPL final on Nov. 9
The extra-time victory for Atlético featured a viral ‘icicle kick’ goal from league MVP David Rodríguez, who also went on to score the match winner.
WATCH | The highlight of Ottawa’s title win:
#TheMoment an ‘icicle-kick’ helped win Canada’s premier league final
Soccer player David Rodriguez tells The National about the moment he scored a bicycle kick in the snow, dubbed an icicle-kick, in Canada’s Premier League final to tie the game and propel his team, Atlético Ottawa, to win the championship.
Rodríguez, who was on loan from Mexican-based side Atlético de San Luis, has since departed from the club.
The fan-adored midfielder has only played 12 of a possible 540 minutes since his return to Liga MX.
Top goalkeeper award winner and all-time appearance leader Nathan Ingham did not re-sign for the club after 109 games between the sticks, but has since picked up the gloves at Cavalry FC.
Former striker Sam Salter, who was also the league’s golden boot winner, was sold to Swedish side Göteborgs Atlet-och Idrottssällskap (GAIS).
Among the newcomers Tuesday night were starters Jonantan Villal from its central Mexican sister club and Haitian keeper Garissone Innocent.
Atlético will turn its eyes to next Tuesday when the team travels to Nashville for the second and final leg of the total-goal round. The simplest way for them to advance would be by winning 3-0 or 3-1, since the first tiebreaker is away goals.
The winner will play the iconic Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.