Final Score: Cavalry FC 2-1 York United Goalscorers: Camargo 2', 51'; Ferrin 53' Game of the 2025 season: 38 |
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Match in a minute or less
Cavalry FC moved up into second place in the Canadian Premier League on Sunday following a 2-1 victory over York United at ATCO Field.
Sergio Camargo scored twice, incredibly early in both halves to secure the victory for the Calgary club. York United's lone goal came from Massimo Ferrin, his first CPL goal as a York United player.
In front of a regular-season club record crowd of 5,114 at ATCO Field, Cavalry picked up their fifth win in their past six CPL matches, and are now undefeated in eight straight matches in all competitions.
Three Observations
Cavalry FC keep pace in tight race atop the CPL table with committed defensive performance
Sunday's match was an important one for Cavalry FC as they looked to keep pace in an increasingly tight race at the top of the CPL table through ten match weeks.
With Forge winning earlier in the day, and Atlético Ottawa on Saturday, three points for Cavalry moved them up into second place. But they remain tied on points with Forge and the Halifax Wanderers at 17. Atlético Ottawa lead the league with 21, having played one more match than Cavalry.
Having scored 14 goals in all competitions in their past three home matches heading into Sunday's contest, perhaps the bigger story for Cavalry was their play at the other end of the pitch.
York United had several threatening moments throughout the match, which were cut out by Cavalry defenders making crucial blocks off the line. Callum Montgomery made a brilliant sliding stop on Adonijah Reid in the first half, and made eight clearances in the match. With Levi Laing out of the lineup on Sunday, Eryk Kobza made his first appearance of the season and was incredibly solid in the centre of defence.
Especially impressive, however, was the way Cavalry dug deep in the game's late stages. Down a goal, York did not manage a shot attempt in the game's final half-hour as the hosts did brilliantly to plug up holes and spaces in their half, sitting back in a compact defensive setup.
This Cavalry team has proven all season to be incredibly adept at seeing out matches. Only once this year in all competitions, a 1-1 draw last week with Forge, have they taken a lead this season and failed to hold on for the full three points.
Cavalry FC midfield performance highlights tremendous depth
With several absences due to injuries and international duty on Sunday afternoon, Cavalry FC manager Tommy Wheeldon Jr. named a starting eleven with four changes from last week's 1-1 draw with Forge.
Where Cavalry looked most different, however, was in midfield -- with Shamit Shome, who had started all seven of Cavalry's games heading into Sunday in midfield, and Nicolas Wähling unavailable. In Shome's place, Cavalry dropped Sergio Camargo into a more defensive role, while bringing in Maël Henry as a number ten, and Jay Herdman on the left to replace Wähling.
It took less than two minutes into the match for this new structure to pay dividends. Henry shifted out to the right side to create an overload with Herdman and played a quick one-two to break the York lines. Then, recognizing the vacated space in the middle, Camargo stepped forward, and received a pass from Herdman before unleashing a brilliant low shot that beat Ivan Pavela in the York net.
Camargo added a second goal in the 51st minute after getting on the end of a second phase of a free kick. Camargo was outstanding all match long, covering a lot of ground in midfield in the absence of Shome -- joking after the match that he hopes Shome comes home from international duty with Bangladesh soon so he doesn't have to run quite as much.
With Camargo moving further forward on a few occasions to add numbers in attack, 21-year-old Max Piepgrass played a key role in Cavalry building out of the back. He completed 31 of 37 passes, while also winning a solid seven of ten duels.
Having made his first appearance since 2021 in the CPL in the first meeting against York United back on May 2, Piepgrass has since become an increasingly dependable player for Cavalry in the centre of the park.
With Diego Gutiérrez yet to make an appearance in CPL action for Cavalry this season, and key veteran Charlie Trafford retiring before the regular season began, it has been impressive how the Cavs have moved from strength to strength in the centre of the park this campaign. That was again the case on Sunday.
York United fail to bury chances, allow Cavalry to lock them out late
A few York United players will be having nightmares on Sunday night after some great missed opportunities.
York United did more than enough offensively to get something out of the match, holding 57.5 per cent of the ball and making 50 final third entries.
They had Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci beat on multiple occasions, but only once did it end up in the net. In the 10th minute, Adonijah Reid rounded Carducci, but his shot into what looked like an open net was cleared off the line by Montgomery. Then, in the 37th, Julian Altobelli rounded Carducci, only to have Kobza get in the way of his effort.
Moments later, Botello had another great chance right in front of Carducci's net, but couldn't get his shot through from close range. Against a team like Cavalry, you have to bury those chances or they will come back to haunt you.
They certainly did in the second half, when Cavalry FC shut up shop and it wasn't nearly as easy for York to find ways through their backline.
"It's football, you gotta bury teams, and you bury teams with goals," said York United head coach Mauro Eustáquio. "We were able to create with crosses, playing inside. We got clear opportunities, in my opinion, in the first half. I just think we gotta be a little bit more ruthless."
York need to quickly move on and learn from this result, as this is a big and busy week for the club. They head to the nation's capital next on Wednesday for the first leg of their quarter-final against Atlético Ottawa. Then it's back out west to Vancouver Island for a league match against Pacific FC next Saturday, who are just two points behind them in sixth place.
What They Said
“We're in the results business, so our job was to win a football match today. Doesn't matter how. Can we put down a 4-0 scoreline in front of us? No. I think what we showed today was adaptability. It doesn't matter where players play, or who plays in what positions and what guys we bring up from our depth.” -- Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
“I thought we were the better team, to be honest. Created a lot of opportunities in the first half that we weren't able to bury. In the second half, fair play to them, they went into a defensive block, and it was hard to break them down.” — York United head coach Mauro Eustáquio
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Sergio Camargo, Cavalry FC
Playing in a deeper lying role on Sunday, Camargo scored a brace and put in an outstanding shift on both sides of the ball. Completing 93.1 per cent of his passes and winning possession six times.
What’s next?
York United head to the nation's capital for the first leg of their Canadian Championship quarter-final against Atlético Ottawa on Wednesday, June 11 (7 p.m. ET). They are next in league action at Starlight Stadium on Saturday, June 14, against Pacific FC (6 p.m. ET).
Cavalry, meanwhile, are off to Halifax where they take on the Wanderers on Saturday, June 14 (1 p.m. MT).
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