Regular-season league MVP Joey Gjertsen proved to be even more valuable in the USL First Division championship game, figuring in both goals as the Vancouver Whitecaps defeated the Rochester Raging Rhinos 3-0 on Saturday night for their first title.

Gjertsen's shot in the closing seconds of the first half caromed off the foot of Rhinos defender Nate Craft, changed direction and bounded past surprised goalie Scott Vallow to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead. The goal was officially an own goal.

Gjertsen then set up Tony Donatelli's goal in the 54th minute for the 2-0 lead.

David Testo perfectly threaded a pass between two defenders to send Gjertsen in on the right side of the box on a two-on-one. He made a 15-yard on-the-foot pass across the box to Donatelli, who waited momentarily, then boomed a rising shot past Vallow's right hand.

A breakaway goal by Sita-Taty Matondo in the 86th minute clinched the victory.

The title is the first soccer championship for the Vancouver franchise since 1979, when the Whitecaps won the North American Soccer League title.

Rochester was bidding for its fourth title since 1998, and first since 2001.

It's the first time in 14 USL championship games that the home team has lost. A crowd of 9,547 watched at a rain-soaked PAETEC Park.

Vancouver goalie Tony Caig was required to make just two saves, the best of which came in the 80th minute to preserve the shutout. He was beaten on a shot by Kenney Bertz in the game's ninth minute but the play was ruled offside.

The Whitecaps posted four consecutive playoff shutouts. They didn't give up a goal since the 64th minute of their first playoff game.

The Whitecaps went 4-0-1 in the playoffs after a 12-6-10 (46 points) regular season. They advanced to the championship match after defeating Montreal 2-0 in a two-game total goal semifinal series.

The Rhinos were 1-1-1 in the playoffs after compiling the league's second-best regular season record (13-4-11, 50 points).

© The Canadian Press, 2007