As the Canadian Premier League season reaches its final matchday, Atlético Ottawa's dreams of lifting the CPL Shield as regular season winners remain alive.
To make them a reality, however, a lot needs to go their way during The Outcome. First and foremost, Saturday's game is a must-win for Atlético Ottawa — no other result will see them overcome the two-point gap to Forge at the top of the table.
At the same time, they need Forge to lose. A draw, or a victory for the Hamilton club, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker between themselves and Atleti, against York United at Hamilton Stadium on Saturday, and anything Atleti manage in Halifax will have been in vain.
Making matters all the more complicated, Atleti face a heavily motivated host — who could finish as high as third and as low as fifth, significantly altering their playoff path, depending on results on Saturday. Halifax enter the match knowing that a victory would secure just the second home playoff game in the club's history. Whether or not that is in the midweek 4th vs. 5th knockout match or the semi-final qualifier next weekend would depend on whether Cavalry FC drop points in Langley.
A victory for Halifax would also be their 12th of the season, surpassing a club record of 11 set in 2023, and tying the single-season high of 42 points they set that season. The Wanderers could still secure fourth with a draw or a loss, but would need York United to drop points against Forge FC in Hamilton. They would then host those same Nine Stripes in Halifax on Wednesday.
Atlético Ottawa suffered their first loss of the season, and one of only two in the CPL the entire year, 2-0 at the Wanderers Grounds back on May 24. They did, however, win the most recent meeting between the two clubs by the same scoreline on July 18 in the nation's capital.
The capital club have stumbled to the finish line a little bit in the regular season, drawing four of their past five matches. That included a 0-0 draw with bottom-of-the-table Vancouver FC this past weekend at home.
Both sides will be getting some important re-inforcements. After missing out last weekend against Vancouver FC with a minor injury, Loïc Cloutier is expected to return to Atlético Ottawa's side ahead of this crucial match.
Halifax, meanwhile, were heavily shorthanded during their 3-0 victory over Valour this past Saturday. Ryan Telfer, Andre Rampersad and Rayane Yesli have are all back from international duty, while Wesley Timoteo returns from suspension. Tiago Coimbra is also coming along well in his injury recovery, having scored his 12th of the season off the bench in Winnipeg, and Vitor Dias is back and available for selection.
On Saturday, in Halifax, the fate of two seasons are on the line. A trophy could be lifted or a fortress secured and made ready for playoff football. Only after the season's final whistle will the full picture be clear.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
- Atlético Ottawa looking to play free despite must-win match: Atlético Ottawa just haven't quite looked themselves over the past two weeks. First, it was a 3-3 draw with Valour FC in Winnipeg, a match they were perhaps lucky to even get a point in, despite conceding a heartbreaking stoppage-time equalizer. Then, this past week, they struggled to break down a defensively solid Vancouver FC side in a 0-0 draw in the capital. Throughout those two matches, against opponents who had nothing to lose, they looked uncharacteristically nervous, perhaps weighing the importance of those two matches. On Saturday, the young side need to put all that behind them. "Talking about the last two matches, I talked with the player that they need to quit that pressure in their minds," said Atlético Ottawa head coach Diego Mejía. "And they need to play soccer. They need to play in our way."
- Milestone watch for Atlético Ottawa: It seems like every week this Ottawa team set a new league record, and Saturday could be no different. The past two weeks, they broke the CPL single-season team goal record, before becoming the first team in league history to go undefeated at home during a CPL campaign. In Halifax, a few of their players will be chasing some individual records on the final day of the campaign. Sam Salter, who has already smashed the CPL single-season goal record, will try to become the first player in CPL history to hit 20, against his former club, no less. David Rodríguez, meanwhile, is one assist away from 10, which would also be a CPL record, surpassing the mark Halifax Wanderers' midfielder Sean Rea set in 2022 while playing for Valour. With a goal and an assist, he would become the first player in league history to hit 10 goals and 10 assists. There is one potential record to keep an eye on for Halifax as well. Should Tiago Coimbra score, he would set the CPL record for most regular-season goals by a Canadian U-21 player, with 13, surpassing Osaze De Rosario (2022) and Tristan Borges (2019), who he currently sits level with on 12.
- Halifax looking to keep up strong home defensive record against league's top attack: In terms of year-over-year improvement, it is pretty easy to point to Halifax's defending as the key catalyst in their rise back above the playoff line. Heading into the final match of the season, the Wanderers have conceded 10 fewer goals than they did in 2024, which they finished with the joint-most allowed in the league. In particular, they have been outstanding defensively at home, with only 12 goals allowed in 13 matches so far. Only Forge have allowed fewer at home this season (just nine). Their defensive resolve will again be put to the test on Saturday by the best attack in league history, but they did keep one of their five home clean sheets this season against Atleti in their first visit to the Wanderers Grounds back on May 24.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Halifax Wanderers: Yesli; Alphonse, Meilleur-GIguère, Mekideche; Pearlman, Callegari, Johnston, Sow; Rea, Dias, Telfer
Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Mbomio, Abatneh, Cloutier; Antinoro, Castro, Aparicio, Levis; Rodríguez, Tabla, Salter
ALL-TIME SERIES
Halifax Wanderers wins: 7 || Atlético Ottawa wins: 9 || Draws: 7
Last meeting:
July 18, 2025 — Atlético Ottawa 2-0 Halifax Wanderers
KEY QUOTES
"We can't have any control over the other games. We know we're at home, so the focus is we've just got to win our game. And however things play out, they play out." - Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar
"If we play our model, we will have a lot of opportunities to win, and then we'll see. We'll see if we have the opportunity to get the trophy....the thing we need to forget [is pressure] and don't play thinking in the result." **-**Atlético Ottawa head coach Diego Mejía