There have always been a lot of ways Forge FC excites its fans, and Hoce Massunda is providing another one.
The fearless teenage winger, who doesn’t turn 20 until June 19, has burst into prominence over the last three weeks as the latest youngster to take advantage of the Hammers’ deliberate development blueprint and simply force his way onto a team of proven veteran professionals.
Over the past three weeks of CPL play, Forge has beaten Pacific 1-0 on Vancouver Island, tied surging Cavalry 1-1 in Hamilton, and, Sunday afternoon, edged the offensively dangerous HFX Wanderers 2-1 at home.
Seven of a possible nine points to remain the only undefeated team in the league; four Forge goals in those three games, and Massunda has been directly involved in all of them.
Massunda scored the winner in Victoria, set up Nana Ampomah’s tying goal against Cavalry with a deft flick backward over his head; then pounded in Sunday’s first goal against the Wanderers in the 25th minute, completing outduelling his fellow No. 17 Wes Timóteo before slamming in a bouncing ball past Halifax goalkeeper Rayane Yesl. And in the 76th minute, he feigned a drive into the box, then pulled back from Timóteo and lofted a perfect cross to the far post for striker Brian Wright to head perfectly into the net.
That goal was not only a perfect play, it was necessary to avoid a sixth Forge draw in the young season, as the Wanderers would cut it to 2-1 with just 10 minutes left.
“Hoce did another excellent job for us,’’ said Hamilton Head Coach Bobby Smyrniotis. “You can’t ask much more from him. “
No, you can’t. With Tristan Borges out and David Choinière just returning from injury, Massunda has stepped up with conviction. This was just his second start, and he’s only played a total of 106 CPL minutes, but has two goals and leads the squad with a pair of assists. His dribbling penetration into the Wanderers’ box climbed into double digits, and he used that threat to set up three excellent far-post crosses. He also pressed Halifax three times defensively to create havoc and disrupt Hamilton's ball possession.
“He’s a bold player, a confident player,” Smyrniotis says. “He believes in his ability individually, and the great thing is he believes in the team concept as well, which is sometimes hard to find as a young player. That’s helping him a lot. And it’s not just what he does on the ball, off the ball, he’s good. You see the goal (the 1-0 play) that comes from his pressing.”
When he was 16, Massunda joined Forge’s Sigma Academy from the Erin Mills and North Mississauga youth programs at the suggestion of one of his two older brothers, who knew academy coach Kyle Waltong. He played U-19, then in the semi-pro League 1 for Sigma. But the Forge also had him travel to Hamilton periodically for training, as they do with several young players in the development pipeline.
“I got to know the guys at Forge a bit last year and that helped,” Massunda said. “Then I came in for the pre-season in January this year and got close with them. They brought me in like a family.”
A little like Kwasi Poku, who also rose through the Forge ranks and into a shining offensive role, Massunda was taken to mid-winter training camp in preparation for the Concacaf Champions League. At that camp in Mexico, he started the first friendly game and scored early, then he scored in the next friendly.
“When I scored five minutes into that first game, I was in disbelief,” Massunda recalls. “And then I scored again in the next game, and I was like ‘Wow, this is going good!’. I didn’t know if I would do well, but I kept training well, and they signed me.
“I feel 100 per cent welcome. The guys are like family now.”
Massunda wants the ball on his feet and isn’t afraid to push hard into the box, and it takes self-confidence to do that against professionals who’ve had many more years’ experience at this level of play.
“That’s just how I am,” he says. “Even outside of soccer, I’m just a confident guy. I don’t know how I got that, but my family’s very confident, and it just rubbed off on me.”
His parents moved to Canada from the Congo, and his two older brothers were born in Ottawa before the family moved to Mississauga. Soccer was in his genes, as his father played the game in France and the Congo, and his two older brothers also played. He says being the youngest of three was good for his development because “I didn’t want to be below their level when I was 15 and training with them.
“My family and I just loved playing it when I was young. I grew up in a neighbourhood where all the kids played soccer every day. From a young age, I was always a dribbler. I wanted to make plays, creating in the final third. When I came here, I got to do the same thing, so it was perfect.”
On the pro tier, dribbling skill and audacity are part of the foundation, but the larger building has to be constructed from an accumulation of learning, recognition, and adjustments. Forge’s seasoned forwards—among them Choinière, Borges, and Mo Babouli—have helped Massunda with the transition to the mental demands of the CPL.
“They teach me things I didn’t know, like their decision making,” he says. “When they dribble, they have their head up at all times. They are always alert. I, at a young age I kept my head down and I just went. But it’s so important at this level to keep your head up. In this game (against Halifax), I made a couple of mistakes because I didn’t have my head up. But when I got the assist, I had it up the whole time, and I just found Brian. He’s a class striker and he just put it right in the net.”
That goal was the ultimate difference in the game, although Forge, as is their wont, could have had more than one score in the first half, which they completely controlled. The Wanderers found some offence in the second half, but the Forge allowed them to possess the ball without many serious interior penetrations behind their trademark stout rear wall. The late goal created some excitement, but on balance, Forge was full measure for the victory.
The win allowed them to move into a tie with the Wanderers and Halifax for second place, but the other two are technically ranked higher because they each have one more win (five) than Hamilton. But Hamilton’s 17 points from nine games put them just four back of league-leading Ottawa, who have played one more match.
After the game, Smyrtniotis said he would like to see more aerial play in the opponents’ box off looping crosses like the three Massunda delivered. He cited Wright’s unguardable body positioning on his goal, and the leaping ability of several other Forges, including rookie Maxime Filion and veteran Alex Achinioti-Jönsson, who remained at midfield despite the return of Ali Hojabrpour from injury.
With various veterans, including Choinière and Borges, back to game-ready health, Smyrniotis will have some decisions to make on the rotation and how young players like Massunda will factor into it.
“The one thing I told him from the beginning is he’s going to play an important role on the team,” the head coach said. “We just don’t know when that will be; maybe Week 1, maybe Week 10. But if you keep doing the right things, good things come on the pitch.
“He’s a guy who likes to learn.”
Massunda, whose short-term goal is to become a finalist for the CPL U-21 player of the year and gain his first attention from Canada’s national program, says he knows there are things he needs to improve on to ensure that his recent successes aren’t a temporary hot stretch.
“I think I need to add just being relentless,” he says. “Just going at the defenders more and more and being sharp in the final third. That’s how you become the best player; if I can become sharp at a young age, as I get older, who knows where I could be?”