2025 CPL Regular Season — Match #39
Halifax Wanderers vs. Cavalry FC
June 14 at 4 p.m. AT / 1 p.m. MT
Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Live: OneSoccer // Tickets available here
The Canadian Premier League's 'One Year Out' weekend, celebrating a year until the 2026 World Cup comes to Canada, begins on the East Coast in Halifax on Saturday afternoon.
The Halifax Wanderers host Cavalry FC, with whom they are tied on points, with 17, in the CPL standings. Cavalry, who have played one fewer game, currently hold the second spot based on head-to-head tiebreaker, but both sides will be keen to create some separation from the other in the table.
Atlético Ottawa remain top of the table, a position that Halifax briefly held a few weeks ago for the first time in club history, currently four points ahead of both Cavalry and the Wanderers.
Cavalry FC are the only team who have defeated the Wanderers at home this season, a 3-0 victory back on May 10. Ali Musse scored a brace in that match, and now has six goals and four assists against the Wanderers, the most he has managed against any CPL opponent.
It had been nearly a year since a team had defeated Halifax at home, as their previous home loss came on May 20, 2024 -- and is their only loss in their past 14 matches at the Wanderers Grounds.
Some home cooking would be real nice for the Wanderers right now, as they are coming off back-to-back losses for the first time this year, including falling 2-1 to Forge FC in Hamilton this past Sunday. The Wanderers are now 2-2-3 against teams currently above the playoff line this season -- a record they will want to improve starting Saturday.
Crucial to that is Halifax finding a way to score first, as it would likely limit Cavalry's opportunities to hit them in transition. That is easier said then done, however, as the Cavs have scored first in six straight league matches, with Sergio Camargo scoring within two minutes of the opening whistle in their past two matches.
Cavalry won't be particularly intimidated by the Wanderers Grounds, where they have lost just twice in 10 visits. They are undefeated in their past eight matches in all competitions, following a 2-1 win over York United this past Sunday at ATCO Field.
Halifax will be without captain Andre Rampersad for a few weeks at minimum as he is with the Trinidad and Tobago men's national team ahead of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Cavalry meanwhile should be getting some crucial re-inforcement as Shamit Shome, Caniggia Elva and Mihail Gherasimencov are all back from international duty, but still need to be fully assessed before determining their level of involvement. Nicolas Wähling and Levi Laing, meanwhile, are back and available as well after missing out last weekend against York United.
Maël Henry, however, has a minor injury and did not travel. Cavalry also announced this week the mutual termination of the contract of midfielder Jesse Daley.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
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Can Halifax contain Ali Musse?: The last time these two sides met, on a rainy day in Halifax on May 10, the Wanderers had no answers for Cavalry's Ali Musse. The attacker won a penalty, converted by Tobias Warschewski, before adding a second-half brace in a 3-0 victory. Containing Musse will be critical to the Wanderers' success on Saturday, including limiting the space he has on the right flank so that he cannot get up to speed in transition. Cavalry are evidently a team full of attacking options, but Musse is the one who has proven lethal to the Wanderers time and time again.
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Cavalry FC finding different ways to win: Last time Cavalry were in Halifax, they claimed victory with an offensive outburst, scoring three goals in a 3-0 win. They followed that up with back-to-back 4-0 victories in the league against Valour FC and Pacific FC, respectively. In their past two matches, however, as teams limit their opportunities in transition in particular, Cavalry have found results in different ways, largely through committed defensive efforts. Despite holding less of the ball, they have found ways to shut up shop when it matters, showing another facet of their tactical identity. "It's great winning 4-0, 3-0, having these big results and stuff," said Cavalry FC defender Callum Montgomery. "But we know that's not going to be the reality every single game this year. When you get to crunch time, these games are 1-0, 2-1, those types of matches. So to be able to squeeze out those games...these are the games that are going to matter at the end of the year."
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Halifax looking to regain defensive identity: There is no question, the biggest year-over-year improvement from the Halifax Wanderers this season stems from how excellent they have been defensively. The past few games, however, there have been a few more errors that have creeped into Halifax's game that they will want to cut out on Saturday against a lethal Cavalry team. In particular lately they've struggled to deal with open play aerial balls played into their box. The recent return of Nassim Mekidèche should help in this regard, and defensively in general, but this will be another great test for the Wanderers backline.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Halifax Wanderers: Yesli; Mekidèche, Meilleur-Giguère, Pearlman; Bahamboula, Johnston, Callegari, Timoteo; Probo, Rea, Coimbra
Cavalry FC: Carducci; Aird, Kobza, Montgomery, Field; Shome, Piepgrass; Musse, Camargo, Herdman; Warschewski
ALL-TIME SERIES
Halifax Wanderers wins: 3 || Cavalry FC wins: 13 || Draws: 7
Last meeting:
May 10, 2025 — Halifax Wanderers 0-3 Cavalry FC
KEY QUOTES
"They're so dangerous in transition. We've got to try to score first, to kind of make the game a little bit different and challenge them in a different way. And we just have to manage the moments...they have been excellent in their moments. We've just got to make sure that we flip that, and we're the ones that are able to do that [on Saturday]." - Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar
"The boys enjoy coming here to Halifax. It's our longest travel, of course, but with it, you know you're going to have a very good opponent in front of you. You know you're gonna have a great crowd that's gonna bicker and banter at you. But afterwards, you know that there's three points on the line for both sides." - Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
"Halifax is a good team. We have a lot of respect for them. Obviously last time we played them, they were coming off a long week with a double-header against Forge. So we don't read too much into that last result. Every team in this league can beat anybody on any given day, so we need to bring our best. We know how tough of a place Halifax is to come and get a result." - Cavalry FC defender Callum Montgomery