After matchweek 14, we're officially at the halfway mark of the 2025 Canadian Premier League season, with all but two teams hitting the exact midway point over the weekend.
It was an interesting couple of days for the league table, beginning on Saturday where the top two sides, Atlético Ottawa and Forge, went toe-to-toe with first place on the line. Forge struck first, and seemed likely to go on and win, but some late drama gave Atleti a penalty, and Ballou Tabla saved a point to keep them on top.
Later that day, Pacific hosted the Halifax Wanderers, and it seems the Tridents may have solved their goalscoring issue. Yann Toualy exploded for a hat-trick in this game, and the Tridents finally wound up with the win, despite scoring first, then trailing at one point. Toualy scored his third from the penalty spot in a 3-2 win.
Sunday evening opened with a similarly eventful contest at York Lions Stadium. Valour FC opened the scoring with a Kian Williams screamer, but York United went on to score in the first and fourth minutes of first-half stoppage time, then again two minutes after the break. It ended 3-2 in favour of the Nine Stripes.
Finally, a chippy affair in Langley, B.C. where Vancouver FC and Cavalry renewed hostilities after VFC knocked the Cavs out of the Canadian Championship on Wednesday night. There was no scoring in this one, but Vancouver's Nicolas Mezquida was sent off in a game that featured more physicality than major attacking chances.
Here's where the table sits at this midway mark:
The weekend probably couldn't have shaped up much better for York United, who are desperate to keep pace with the top four above them.
Pacific beating Halifax was a result that would help York if they beat Valour, but put pressure on them if they didn't, since Pacific are the closest side behind York. The Nine Stripes did get their three points though; it's certainly still a mountain to climb, with a four-point gap between them and Cavalry, and between them and the Wanderers, but there's a little more momentum with York right now.
Meanwhile, the chase for the CPL Shield is truly heating up. Ottawa and Forge have gone head-to-head twice this year, and neither time has anybody managed to get an advantage over the other. With just one point separating them in the race for first place and the regular season title, this could end up coming down to the slimmest of margins; it really doesn't look like either team is likely to stumble much anytime soon.
However, the back half of the season is sure to have a litany of twists and turns, so who knows what could happen over the next three months or so.
Awards Watch
Julian Altobelli clawed one back in the Golden Boot race with his eighth goal of the season on Sunday, so he now sits just one behind Sam Salter for the league lead.
In Ottawa this weekend, we had a clash between arguably the top two goalkeepers in the CPL so far this year, as Nathan Ingham and Jassem Koleilat both put on a remarkable performance between the sticks in the 1-1 draw between Atlético and Forge. It would be a shock if both weren't named to the three finalists for this year's Golden Glove.
Meanwhile, Tiago Coimbra scored again for Halifax, putting him on seven for the year. He's starting to emerge as a potential front-runner in the U-21 Player of the Year category; if he can keep up this form and continue scoring for the Wanderers, look for him to get some attention come awards season.
U-21 Minutes Update
Four sides continue to pull away at the top, and Atlético Ottawa are way out in front still.
However, a few of the sides lower down the leaderboard had some positive contributions this weekend. Valour, most notably, got 90 minutes from Kelsey Egwu, but perhaps even more importantly Myles Morgan played a full half — and scored a screamer. Look for him to become more involved, because with Egwu now at 767 minutes, he can only count for another 233 of Valour's 2,000 total because he's a loan player.
Forge, meanwhile, have added quite a few since the last update as well; unfortunately they didn't get quite as many as they hoped from Khadime Kane, who started but went down with injury in the first half against Atleti. However, Zayne Bruno and Hoce Massunda put in excellent shifts off the bench.
| Team | U-21 Minutes |
|---|---|
| Atlético Ottawa | 4,272 |
| Vancouver FC | 3,971 |
| Cavalry FC | 2,301 |
| Pacific FC | 2,071 |
| Halifax Wanderers FC | 1,573 |
| York United FC | 1,419 |
| Forge FC | 1,365 |
| Valour FC | 1,186 |
Coming up next…
Friday, July 18
Atlético Ottawa vs. Halifax Wanderers FC — 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Forge FC vs. Pacific FC — 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Saturday, July 19
York United vs. Vancouver FC — 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT
Sunday, July 20
Valour FC vs. Cavalry FC — 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT
(Watch all games live on OneSoccer.)
Photo of the Week
Shoutout to Sheldon Mack for catching this at just the right moment.
Looks like Yann Toualy can do it all!
