VANCOUVER — Coach Carl Robinson turned to his veterans to protect the Vancouver Whitecaps' pride.

Striker Octavio Rivero scored a pretty goal in the 52nd minute to put an exclamation point on a Vancouver comeback as the Whitecaps defeated the Ottawa Fury 3-0 Wednesday night to advance to the final of the Amway Canadian Championship.

The Whitecaps won the two-game aggregate semifinal series 3-2. They will defend the Voyageurs Cup they won last year against Toronto FC in the final. The Fury are members of the NASL which is one tier below MLS, where both Vancouver and Toronto play.

Pedro Morales, on a penalty kick in the third minute, and Nicolas Mezquida, with a header in the 20th, also scored for Vancouver who led 2-0 lead at half time.

Robinson had dressed a young lineup in last week's 2-0 loss to the Fury in the opening match of the semifinal at Ottawa's TD Place Stadium. This week he made eight changes and dressed a veteran group with plenty of MLS experience.

"When you're 2-0 down you put your bigger boys on," said Robinson. "Of course there is pride on the line.

"We were very professional today. We didn't want to go out in the semifinals. It's our cup. We want to try to defend it."

Ottawa coach Paul Dalglish said the step-up in talent was immediately evident.

"My eyes aren't painted on," he said with a smile. "I think it was very easy to see the difference in class.

"They were brilliant tonight. You see the difference in quality."

The Whitecaps put pressure on the Fury early and didn't have to wait long for the result they wanted.

The game was in the second minute when midfielder Matias Laba put a ball through to Mezquida. He had a clear path to the net until being pushed in the back while in the box by Ottawa defender Rafael Alves. That set up Morales on the penalty kick.

"We knew it was going to be difficult," said Mezquida. "We knew we had to score fast."

The goal put the Fury on their heels and they spent the rest of the night chasing the Whitecaps.

"It was a horror start for us," said Dalglish. "We were well and deservedly beaten tonight.

"We had some chances, we tried to make it as exciting as we could. We were flat a little bit. We tried our best, we made it as difficult as we could for Vancouver. We came up against a really good team and came up a little bit short."

Morales and Mezquida played a role in the Whitecaps' second goal. Morales sent a long ball toward the net that Rivero headed to Mezquida. He then headed it past the outstretched fingers of Ottawa goalkeeper Romuald Peiser.

Rivero gave Vancouver the victory after taking a pass from Morales. He boomed a right-footed shot from about 10 yards out that went off the far post and into the net, bringing a roar from the crowd of 17,863 at B.C. Place Stadium.

Even as they flexed some offensive muscle the Whitecaps still played a strong game defensively. Vancouver controlled the play and limited Ottawa to just a couple good scoring chances.

"We really wanted to get back to the basics," said centre back Tim Parker. "The guys did a great job of pressuring them on the ball. It makes our job easier because it makes the play a little bit predictable.

"For us it was just about being clean and precise in the back."

Parker said the Whitecaps had something to prove after last week's loss to the Fury.

"You don't want to take anything away from Ottawa," he said. "At their home field they played phenomenal. They played to our weaknesses.

"Tonight we were able to get an early goal. We just had a lot of motivation and determination to try to get this win tonight."

NOTES: Vancouver midfielder Russell Teibert substituted into the match in the 80th minute for his 15th appearance in the Canadian championship, tying him with former Whitecaps keeper Jay Nolly for most games played. … Midfielder Alphonso Davies was 15 years, 212 days old in last week's game, making him the youngest player to appear for the Whitecaps and in a Canadian championship match. … The Whitecaps have been averaging two goals a game in their last eight Major League Soccer starts.