Matchweek nine in the Canadian Premier League brought us to some new places — and some familiar ones.
The CPL On Tour landed in Québec City, where over 7,000 people braved torrential rain and wind to celebrate professional soccer, and they were treated to the best performance of the season from York United FC. The Nine Stripes beat the Halifax Wanderers 2-0 to put themselves back in a playoff spot, braving the elements to do so.
On Friday night, Vancouver FC looked set for a surprise win over Atlético Ottawa, leading 2-0 at halftime, but Atleti battled back in the second half with force. They left with a 2-2 draw thanks to goals from Sam Salter and David Rodríguez (who else?), although they felt they should've had all three points; Monty Patterson seemed to score right at the end, but his apparent goal was chalked off for a controversial foul.
We had another CPL Final rematch on Saturday between Forge and Cavalry, who both scored early — including a Sergio Camargo tally 70 seconds in — but the 1-1 score from the 17th minute would last until full time.
Finally, Valour FC and Pacific FC played in Winnipeg on Sunday, but there wasn't much to write home about. The two sides eventually kicked off after a few hours' delay due to local air quality conditions, but neither managed to find the back of the net in a relatively uneventful 0-0 draw.
Ottawa therefore finished the weekend back on top of the table; here's how the rest of the league stands after matchweek nine.
It was a pretty entertaining weekend, with many of the CPL's biggest names finding the scoresheet again.
York are the biggest story to come out of week nine, though; after a frustrating period where they went six league games without a win, they've now taken two in a row, both of them without conceding. It's incredible how quickly the vibes around a team can change, because York now feel like a much more confident and dangerous side, if they really have figured out how to see out a win after taking the lead.
There's a lot to come this week in the Canadian soccer world, including a CPL game on Wednesday morning in Winnipeg; Valour host Vancouver FC in their first ever school day game, which should be a fun day at Princess Auto Stadium.
Both Canadian national teams are in action this week, too. CanWNT head to Montreal for a second friendly with Haiti on Tuesday evening, and the CanMNT will be in Toronto next weekend to kick off the Canadian Shield tournament against Ukraine. Before that of course, they're in Halifax for training camp; Wanderers fans, don't miss the open session on Tuesday evening!
Awards Watch
Two names seem to dominate this section almost literally every week.
Julian Altobelli has scored again for York, bringing him to seven goals in the CPL and eight in all competitions; in the Nine Stripes' three victories this season, Altobelli has scored all but one of the goals (for either team), and that's only because Steffen Yeates added one at the end of the win against Halifax this weekend. The former TFC II striker cannot seem to stop scoring, and he's always in the right place at the right time to finish a chance. Altobelli finds himself in a dead heat with Sam Salter for the Golden Boot right now, both of them having scored seven in nine games.
Meanwhile, David Rodríguez was back on the pitch for Atlético Ottawa after his suspension, and of course he scored again against Vancouver. Atleti clearly missed him the week before in Halifax, and his return seemed to make their attack better as a whole. He remains a front-runner for a Player of the Year nod.
In the Golden Glove race, Marco Carducci has really picked up steam lately; in Cavalry's outstanding run of form in May, Carducci has conceded just two goals. He's a two-time winner of this award, and will likely be in the mix once again this year.
U-21 Minutes Update
The two youngest teams in the league went toe-to-toe on Friday night and it was a big night for those U-21 players at Vancouver FC and Atlético Ottawa, especially with Jesse Marsch in attendance to watch. Seventeen-year-old Emrick Fotsing scored for Vancouver, putting forth another outstanding performance for the Eagles.
Elsewhere, 19-year-old Hoce Massunda was once again a threat for Forge; he assisted on Nana Ampomah's equalizer and continues to look very comfortable in the Hammers' attack. His start this week was well deserved after scoring that winner a week ago at Pacific.
| Team | U-21 Minutes |
|---|---|
| Atlético Ottawa | 2,617 |
| Vancouver FC | 2,290 |
| Pacific FC | 1,384 |
| Cavalry FC | 1,249 |
| Halifax Wanderers FC | 1,006 |
| Forge FC | 628 |
| Valour FC | 537 |
| York United FC | 497 |
Coming up next…
Wednesday, June 4
Valour FC vs. Vancouver FC — 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT
Saturday, June 7
Pacific FC vs. Atlético Ottawa — 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT
Sunday, June 8
Forge FC vs. Halifax Wanderers — 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT
Cavalry FC vs. York United — 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT
(Watch all games live on OneSoccer, and this week catch the Forge vs. Halifax match on TSN.)
Photo of the Week
Le Québec veut une équipe professionelle ! Merci à tout le monde qui venait assister au match ce week-end !
