We have a serious title race on our hands.
After matchweek 23, a two-point gap at the top of the table means the Canadian Premier League Shield remains very much up for grabs — with a battle for first place coming up next weekend between Atlético Ottawa and Forge FC.
This weekend was an entertaining one across the league, featuring some high-scoring clashes, late drama, and a couple of surprises.
On Thursday night, Forge travelled to Winnipeg where Valour FC exacted some revenge after their last two lopsided losses to the Hammers. Kianz Froese scored a pair in short succession for a 2-1 comeback win, as Valour have now won back-to-back matches for just the second time this year.
Saturday's doubleheader started in Calgary, where Cavalry FC struck a tremendous blow in the battle for third place, beating the Halifax Wanderers 3-1. Later that evening, Pacific FC took to the Royal Athletic Park in central Victoria for a special, sold-out Downtown Derby battle with Vancouver FC.
Although the Eagles took the lead from the penalty spot, Aly Ndom played hero for the Tridents in the 94th minute as Pacific snatched yet another point at the death against their provincial rivals. It was a special afternoon all around, as Pacific celebrated the Victoria community and produced a thoroughly entertaining match in a historic venue.
On Sunday, York United hosted Atlético Ottawa in another provincial clash that did not disappoint. Twice, Sam Salter scored to put Atleti in front, and both times, York answered within a few minutes as the match ended 2-2.
Those four results shook up the state of the league table, but a lot could change next week.
Here's how things stand with just five weeks left to go.
As you can see, that Forge-Ottawa battle — which was recently as wide as four points — is now down to two, which means that the winner of this weekend's match between them will be in first place with four weeks to go. A Forge win would stretch the distance to five, while an Ottawa triumph would put them ahead by one.
Atleti looked decidedly second-best in their last meeting with Forge, but the Hammers have looked more vulnerable recently, and this game is to be played at TD Place instead of Hamilton Stadium.
Meanwhile, Cavalry have finally put a little distance between themselves and the two trailing sides York and Halifax in that all-important battle for third. However, it's by no means a safe margin; the Cavs need to stay vigilant in this weekend's home game against Valour.
Before we can fully return our attention to the CPL table, however, there's some TELUS Canadian Championship business to take care of. Both semifinal ties will wrap up this week, and by the end of Thursday we're guaranteed to have at least one CPL team in the final — for the first time ever in a full tournament.
Forge head to B.C. to play the red-hot Vancouver Whitecaps on Tuesday night, where the aggregate score currently sits at 2-2. The Whitecaps are coming in at the peak of their powers, after beating the Philadelphia Union 7-0 on Saturday. Thomas Müller, who scored a hat-trick and provided an assist in that rout, wasn't yet available for Vancouver when they played the first leg, but he's now fully settled with the MLS club and may prove a tough customer for Forge to deal with. Plus, Canadian international Ali Ahmed is back healthy and also in good form after dazzling for Canada in their two recent friendlies.
On Thursday, Vancouver FC head to the nation's capital to play Atlético Ottawa, hoping to hold onto their 3-1 lead on aggregate. Although the Eagles sit at the bottom of the CPL table, they've had a phenomenal run in this year's CanChamp, and now find themselves 90 minutes away from the final. Ottawa, of course, have plenty of attacking weapons at their disposal, but they'll need everything in order to reverse the deficit.
Both those contests will be on TSN this week, as will Saturday's Halifax-Pacific clash. And of course, every CPL and CanChamp match remains available as always on OneSoccer.
Breaking down the run-in
That runway sure is shrinking, isn't it? Atlético Ottawa have a prolonged stretch at home now, where back-to-back games against Forge and Cavalry could make or break their Shield campaign.
The Cavs only have two home games left, and one of them is this weekend. This is a team that's been phenomenal at ATCO Field for the most part, so they'll want maximum points from these two encounters, starting with a big one against Valour.
Meanwhile, Forge's two remaining trips away take them to Ottawa and Calgary — perhaps their two toughest road fixtures. However, they've got home games left against Pacific and Vancouver, neither of whom is close to the playoff picture, so Bobby Smyrniotis will be looking at those as must-wins.
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Awards Watch
Can we officially call the Golden Boot race over? Sam Salter scored another brace on Sunday to bring his total up to 17, while his closest challenger Tiago Coimbra remains at 11 goals. Coimbra has also missed the last two weeks with injury, which has hurt his chances as well; anything can happen, but it'd be tough for him to close the gap with just five games left.
Speaking of which, the Best U-21 Canadian Player award is a tricky one, especially if Coimbra misses much more time. However, Noah Abatneh came back from his injury on Sunday; he's a likely candidate if he remains in the Ottawa lineup over the last five weeks. It's unlikely Vancouver's Hugo Mbongue will get into the conversation considering how late he joined the club in the summer, but we do need to shout out his incredible form; he's now up to five goals and two assists in nine games in all competitions.
U-21 Minutes Update
Forge are now just 10 minutes away from hitting the 2,000-minute mark, so they should get over that line next weekend; a 90-minute shift for Hoce Massunda last Thursday certainly helped in that regard.
Among other notable U-21 contributions this week were goals for Vancouver's Hugo Mbongue and Halifax's Adam Pearlman, though neither's club got the win this week. That said, Vancouver continued to add to their massive tally of U-21 minutes with three players in the starting XI, plus Thierno Bah coming off the bench.
| Team | U-21 Minutes |
|---|---|
| Atlético Ottawa | 6,876 |
| Vancouver FC | 6,488 |
| Cavalry FC | 3,051 |
| Pacific FC | 2,489 |
| Valour FC | 2,382 |
| Halifax Wanderers FC | 2,123 |
| Forge FC | 1,990 |
| York United FC | 1,711 |
Coming up next…
Tuesday, Sept. 16
Canadian Championship Semifinal: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Forge FC — 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Live on TSN)
Thursday, Sept. 18
Canadian Championship Semifinal: Atlético Ottawa vs. Vancouver FC — 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT (Live on TSN)
Saturday, Sept. 20
Halifax Wanderers vs. Pacific FC — 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT (Live on TSN)
Cavalry FC vs. Valour FC — 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
Sunday, Sept. 21
Atlético Ottawa vs. Forge FC — 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT
Vancouver FC vs. York United — 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
(Watch all games live on OneSoccer. This week, watch the TELUS Canadian Championship semifinals as well as Halifax vs. Pacific on TSN.)
Photo of the Week
It was a packed house at the Royal Athletic Park on Saturday in downtown Victoria, and Pacific FC gave them something to smile about in the end.
(Photo by Sheldon Mack)
