The life of a backup means waiting your turn, and Paolo Tornaghi has done more than his fair share of that with the Vancouver Whitecaps. The 26-year-old goalkeeper has watched nearly 50 competitive games from the bench since joining the club in February 2014, but was set to finally make his first start last week when the Whitecaps travelled to face FC Edmonton in the opening leg of their Amway Canadian Championship semifinal.

But a snowstorm blanketed the Alberta capital, forcing the match to be postponed until May 20 and pushing Tornaghi's debut back another week to Wednesday, when Vancouver hosts Edmonton in what is now the first leg of the tie. The easy-going Tornaghi took it in stride. "I'm just excited to play a game," said the Italian. "Seven days more is nothing if you see how long I've waited."

Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson felt that Tornaghi has earned his chance after backing up David Ousted week in and week out in Major League Soccer.

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The winner of the Vancouver-Edmonton matches will face either Toronto FC or the Montreal Impact in the national final with a spot in the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League on the line.

Edmonton plays in the second-tier NASL, but the Whitecaps are wary of a team that has an ability to score in bunches. "They're going to come and fight and come and play. We have to be ready for that," said veteran Whitecaps striker Robert Earnshaw.