How appropriate that Forge FC’s next game is the annual Signature Match.
Yes, Saturday afternoon’s home date with HFX Wanderers is the yearly chance for fans to collect players’ autographs on individual trading cards, but it’s also another chance for the Hammers to express their team signature. The one they write with their attitude and their play.
Forge’s unprecedented - wildly unprecedented - undefeated season thudded to an end in Calgary Saturday afternoon as the heavily-motivated Cavalry FC, Hamilton’s most bitter rival, turned a 1-0 half-time lead into a runaway 4-1 victory. That halted Forge’s record-smashing streak of 20 CPL games to open the season without a loss, and their overall—including four Canadian Championship games - undefeated run at 24 since kicking off in April.
They aren’t happy about it, but are ready to initiate a new streak against the Wanderers.
“Realistically, it is a positive to be at home this weekend,” said veteran Tristan Borges, who substituted in the 59th minute with Cavalry already up 3-0. “We’ve been very good to this point, and the confidence within this group is very high. It’s a long season, and you play a lot of games.
“We’ve been excellent all year. It’s a game we’d like to have back, but at the end of the day, it’s a whole season, and we move on from it.”
Forge remains in first place, three points ahead of Atlético Ottawa, who took advantage of Hamilton’s loss and picked up three points with a win over Vancouver FC, with seven games left to play.
Cavalry, the reigning league playoff champions, needed the victory as they are in a tight race to earn a home game for the playoffs. They took advantage of several turnovers and misplays by the normally self-assured Forge and got goals from their big stars, Tobias Warchewski (with two), Ali Musse, and Sergio Camargo. Nana Ampomah continued his solid run with a goal in the 61st minute for Forge.
Forge has made it to the CPL final in all six years of the league’s existence and has won four of them. And virtually without fail they’ve had an outing in the latter parts of those successful seasons that was flatter than a pancake: last year Halifax beat them 3-0 in mid-September; the year before Cavalry aced them 3-0 in early August’; in October 2022 it was a 2-0 loss to York and in 2021 it was a 3-1 November loss to Valour.
“At some point in the season, you’re going to have a game when you’re not your best all-around,” said head coach Bobby Smyrniotis. “And most years there’s multiple ones. There’s always something…last year it was the 3-0 loss in Halifax.”
Forge had some chances early—Kyle Bekker’s early shot was stopped by a defender, Brian Wright just missed an opportunity - and so did the home side, but in the end, Calgary was the better team, jumping upon a flurry of Forge mistakes.
“We’ve been playing some excellent football,” Smyrniotis added. “We were just sloppy on the ball, and when you’re sloppy on the ball, it doesn’t matter who you play. It wasn’t something the opponent did; we gave the ball up uncharacteristically, especially in the central axis of the field, and it became about transition. They gave up the ball to us in the first half, too. We could have been good for a couple of goals in the first half; they could have been good for a couple of goals.
“It’s not the game we want to play because then you make it random and you give teams an opportunity.”
The loss did not sit well with the high-standard Forge, but their signature is to digest, learn, and plow ahead. And Smyrniotis offered this bit of philosophy about the first loss.
“It takes away all of the ‘Okay, when is that game going to come?’” You can talk about being undefeated, but you’re going to lose at some point. You’d rather it come now than later. You don’t ever want it to come of course, but it’s something that’s going to be there.
“Does it change anything? No. How does one game change 24? The guys understand that their performance wasn’t good enough; they know that. They know if you play like that, that’s what the result can be. So move on.”
With the loss and Ottawa’s win, the six-point swing tightened the top of the standings as both teams vie for the league title, which comes with a first-round playoff bye and a direct berth into next winter’s Concacaf Champions Cup.
“This (Calvary) wasn’t the game that dictates it,” Smyrniotis said of the battle for first. “The games against Ottawa (both draws), where we had two excellent chances in the first game here to put away the game, and we gave up a penalty in Ottawa. There are other moments in the season you’d rather have back, as opposed to this game this weekend. This weekend, you lose the game and you move on.
“Here’s the beauty of it: seven games to go, we’re up, and it’s in our hands. We’ve got to be our good self.”