The battle for playoff positioning is really heating up after matchweek 20 in the Canadian Premier League, as three sides remain locked in a fierce scrap for third place after this weekend's results.
A rare Friday night double-header began in Halifax, where the Wanderers were desperate for a win at home to break their six-game winless streak. Tiago Coimbra was happy to answer the call, as he scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 triumph over Valour FC.
Coimbra made considerable history in that performance, not only scoring the first ever treble in Wanderers history, but also breaking the CPL record for shots in a match with 10. Friday's win vaulted Halifax from fifth into third place — until, that is, Cavalry FC had something to say about it (but more on that in a moment).
The evening concluded in Vancouver, where Forge FC needed just one goal courtesy of Mo Babouli to take down the Eagles and stretch their CPL unbeaten run to 20 games (24 in all competitions). They finish the week with a six-point lead in the chase for the CPL Shield, after Atlético Ottawa ended up with just a point from their match with Cavalry.
The Hamilton side also became the first this year to clinch a playoff spot, which they did on Sunday afternoon when Pacific failed to beat York United.
That Ottawa draw (a 2-2 result on Saturday) required some grit; Cavalry took a 2-0 lead in the first half with a pair from Ali Musse, but Atleti's stars answered back as Sam Salter and David Rodríguez found the net to even things up. Caniggia Elva nearly won it at the death for the Cavs, but a great save from Nathan Ingham kept Ottawa level.
Finally, York United kept pace with Cavalry and Halifax in style, thanks to some heroics from Shaan Hundal. The striker, who joined the club from Valour not too long ago, made his first start as a Nine Stripe with usual starter Julian Altobelli dealing with hamstring tightness.
Hundal made his presence known immediately, and went on to score a staggering four goals en route to York's 5-1 win over the Tridents.
So after all that, not much actualy changed in the table order (and it hasn't for four weeks now), but the numbers are getting interesting. Here's how the standings look this week:
Two gaps in the table jump out immediately: at the top, and just below the playoff line. Forge's six-point lead over Atlético makes them pretty comfortable in the CPL Shield race, although a lot can change in the next eight weeks.
However, time might be running out on Pacific. After dropping Sunday's six-pointer to York, they now find themselves 10 points adrift, having failed to make up any ground in their games against Halifax and the Nine Stripes.
All three sides outside the playoff picture lost again this week, and by now it seems a near-certainty that the current top five will be the group that heads to the postseason.
Awards Watch
The hat-trick against Valour might have boosted Tiago Coimbra from U-21 Player of the Year contender to front-runner. He's now up to 11 goals on the season, with four in his last two games; that puts him two behind Ottawa's Sam Salter, so Coimbra is now suddenly a serious Golden Boot contender as well.
Meanwhile, another clean sheet for Forge's Jassem Koleilat against Vancouver means he's now on 10 in just 19 games played, putting him well out in front of the competition. Koleilat feels like a lock to be a Golden Glove nominee, after missing out on the top three a year ago. Nathan Ingham is another likely candidate, but who else could join them in the nominations?
U-21 Minutes Update
Valour became the sixth team to get across the 2,000-minute line this weekend, thanks to the contributions of Erik Pop and Myles Morgan — the latter of whom assisted the club's lone goal against Halifax.
Coimbra was, of course, the biggest U-21 star of the week, but York United also got an assist from Shola Jimoh and Cavalry got one from Mihail Gherasimencov.
Just Forge and York remain below the threshold, but with eight games remaining they won't have any trouble at all getting to 2,000.
| Team | U-21 Minutes |
|---|---|
| Atlético Ottawa | 6,228 |
| Vancouver FC | 5,635 |
| Cavalry FC | 3,040 |
| Pacific FC | 2,372 |
| Halifax Wanderers FC | 2,098 |
| Valour FC | 2,112 |
| Forge FC | 1,772 |
| York United FC | 1,653 |
Coming up next…
Saturday, Aug. 30
Cavalry FC vs. Forge FC — 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT (Live on TSN)
Atlético Ottawa vs. Vancouver FC — 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Sunday, Aug. 31
Valour FC vs. Pacific FC — 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT
Monday, Sept. 1
Halifax Wanderers vs. York United — 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT
(Watch all games live on OneSoccer. and this week watch Cavalry vs. Forge on TSN.)
Photo of the Week
There's something beautiful about watching a ball fly through the air in front of a packed stand.
(Photo by Trevor MacMillan)
