They’ll be road warriors for the next couple of weeks, but Forge FC has plenty of room in their carry-ons to pack three points on the return flight, twice.
The Hammers, the CPL’s only undefeated side, visit Vancouver FC this Sunday afternoon, return home for a week of training, then travel to Winnipeg to face Valour FC the following Sunday.
Vancouver sits in eighth place in the eight-team CPL with six points from nine matches, while Valour is seventh with eight points (both over nine games). Forge, tied for second with Cavalry and HFX Wanderers on 17 points, should—as they say out in the fields—make hay while the sun shines.
Vancouver remains the only team Forge hasn’t played yet this year. They’ll be hunting another full point haul after a strong 2‑1 win over the Wanderers in Hamilton last weekend.
It’s a quick in‑and‑out this weekend, with an early kickoff at 1 p.m. local time before the return flight.
“We’re coming off a big result at home,” says Forge goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat. “I think having that long trip to Vancouver is going to be difficult—it’s always tricky playing those away games over there. But if we carry our momentum and put in energy on the pitch for 90 minutes, we’ll be fine.
“It’s a big opportunity for us to keep pushing for the No. 1 seed. Overall, we have to keep doing our thing, focus on our football and display our brand, and we should be good. It’s a big game for us—we’re trying to keep climbing the ladder. And I think for them, they’re trying to push themselves higher up the table.”
So far, the CPL has been cleaved into two halves: Ottawa, Calgary, Halifax, and Hamilton occupy the top four, while York, Pacific, Vancouver and Valour sit in the lower half.
Vancouver is “a little bit of an unpredictable team,” says Forge head coach Bobby Smyrtniotis. “Their record doesn’t show the kind of team they really are.”
The Eagles have given up a lot of chances and surrendered 17 goals while scoring just nine themselves and have only a single victory, which came on May 3 against Valour. But they have a positive percentage in tackle duels, and have one of the CPL’s better passers in midfielder Vasco Fry, and a veteran keeper in Callum Irving.
And, like most teams, they’re more dangerous at home than on the road.
Striker Terran Campbell, once a Forge forward with 16 goals over three seasons and two league championships, now leads Vancouver with one goal and two assists as he has returned to play near his childhood hometown of Burnaby.
Forge will have Nana Ampomah, the forward who has really come into his game the past few matches, back from a yellow card suspension, which forced him to miss last weekend’s match.
On his return, he stated simply: “The important thing for us is to get the three points. That’s all that matters.”
HAMMERS AND NAILS:
- Forge’s Jassem Koleilat is tied with HFX keeper Rayane Yesli with four clean sheets atop the CPL.
- Stalwart Forge centre back Daniel Nimick’s 585 passes rank fourth in the league behind leader Noah Abatneh of Atlético Ottawa, who has 621 passes.
- Forge’s Nimick, Brian Wright and Hoce Massunda were all named to the CPL’s Gatorade Team of the Week.
- Forge isn’t home again until their 905 Derby game against York United on Sunday, June 29.