| Final Score: Vancouver FC 2-2 Cavalry FC Goalscorers: Ndiaye 82', Norman Jr. 90+6'; Myroniuk 78', Elva 90+1' Game of the 2025 season: 110 CPL Match: 705 |
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Match in a minute or less
Vancouver FC and Cavalry FC traded blows in a thrilling matchup at Willoughby Community Park, as they wrapped up the regular season with a 2-2 draw.
After a quiet first half, the game came alive in the second half, starting with a 60th-minute red card from Vancouver's Tyler Crawford, which opened the game right up.
As a result, Niko Myroniuk put Cavalry ahead in the 78th minute, but then Vancouver responded with an equalizer in the 82nd minute, before Caniggia Elva then put Cavalry back ahead with a strike in the first minute of stoppage time.
From there, though, Vancouver managed to claw back a late equalizer, as David Norman Jr. converted a penalty won by Thierno Bah to secure the draw for his team on the day.
Three Observations
Cavalry secures third place in wild fashion:
It's safe to say that while Cavalry were expecting to finish this game in third place, something they would've been guaranteed to do with a victory, this was not the way they planned it.
Having seemed likely to cruise to victory, having gone up a player, and then up a goal on two occasions, they were just unable to hold onto their lead, and that put them at risk of dropping down to fourth place.
Fortunately for them, they got some help from around the league - Atlético Ottawa beat the Halifax Wanderers and Forge FC beat York United (the latter clinched the CPL Shield with that victory), ensuring that the two teams below Cavalry couldn't take advantage of their misfortune.
That's huge, because it now sets Cavalry up a bit better for the playoffs. They still face an uphill battle if they're to repeat as North Star Cup winners, as finishing third means that you have to beat the top two teams on the road to win the North Star Cup, but they at least avoided playing an extra game by not finishing fourth or fifth.
For a team that looked quite fatigued in this match, that's big, as them finishing third ensures they won't need to play until next weekend, instead of playing in midweek.
Because of that, look for Cavalry to use that rest to their advantage as they try to get back up to speed in time for the playoffs.
Despite the frustration of conceding the two goals the way they did, they'll still be pleased that they found the net twice, and it's not as if they lost this game, either - meaning they've lost just three times on the road this season.
While draws aren't always ideal in regular-season play, they're quite useful in the playoffs, as teams that can draw matches will at least always have a chance of winning in extra time or on penalties.
Ideally, Cavalry will do what they did last year, and that's win their playoff games in regular time, but they'll know that no matter what happens, they'll be tough to beat - perhaps, that'll give them the chance to become the first team in this playoff format to reach the final after not finishing in the top two.
Vancouver ends the year on a positive note:
While they were unable to crawl out of eighth place, Vancouver can be extremely pleased with how they finished this 2025 CPL campaign, as this draw means they ended the year unbeaten in six league games - thanks to those 10 points, they avoided setting the record for the team with the lowest points in a single CPL season.
Most impressively, too, the last five of those games all came against the sides that will now compete in the playoffs, as Vancouver ended up disrupting the table quite a bit over this last stretch, showing that they can compete with anyone on their day.
Yet, that's been the story of their season - they've always felt they were better than their record indicated, but they haven't always been able to prove that with the results.
Recently, though, they've started to get the results to match the performances, and that's allowed them to finish the year on a high note.
All of a sudden, between this strong end to the year in league play, and of course, their run to the Canadian Championship final, that's allowed Vancouver to build some momentum just at the right time.
Now, they'll lose some of that momentum as they tackle the realities of a long offseason, but even there, they can feel optimism - with their historic qualification to the Concacaf Champions Cup this week, that means their offseason will be that much shorter, which is another reason among many why their participation in that tournament is so huge.
Because of that, look for them to channel this positive momentum as they now turn their attention towards 2026.
In particular, this game will offer them plenty of examples of things they'll want to build on - especially when seeing how they were able to claw back the score on two occasions despite being down a player.
There, they showed the sort of fight that could go a long way towards pushing this team to new heights next year - now, the goal will be to keep that fight, and to keep building on their identity, which they really seemed to find on both sides of the ball as the year came to an end.
Cavalry flexes depth heading into playoffs:
While Cavalry will bemoan how this game ended, especially when seeing how they defended their two different leads, they'll be pleased with how they took the lead on both occasions.
Not only were both goals well-taken markers, but they came from two players who Cavalry felt had really stepped up and come alive lately in Myroniuk and Elva.
Having both not played as much as hoped due to the strong depth of this Cavalry side, they've been able to earn bigger opportunities due to a mix of injuries, international absences and the other, and they've taken that opportunity.
Heading into the playoffs, that's massive, as it feels like Cavalry will need to take full advantage of their depth to get the results they're chasing against the top sides.
Of course, in the playoffs, top-end difference-makers tend to steal the show - Cavalry doesn't win last year's North Star Cup without the work done by key players such as Tobias Warschewski, Ali Musse, Sergio Camargo, Shamit Shome, Daan Klomp and Marco Carducci, but don't discount the value of players who might only be called upon if there's injury or when the game needs a spark.
In this match, two such players stepped up, and they ended up almost making the difference on the day.
Perhaps, though, this could open the door for Myroniuk and Elva to play bigger roles than expected in the playoffs - especially if Cavalry continues to be hit by injuries (and they'll hope they come out of this one unscathed after Camargo left with a knock and Bradley Kamdem Fewo with a head injury).
Of course, Cavalry's big worry isn't as much their goalscoring (they scored 47 goals in 28 games, after all), but instead their defensive play (they've also conceded 36 times in 28 matches), so while it's nice to see depth players step up with goals, that might not make the difference for Cavalry at the back.
At the same time, A) a team's best defence can be to attack, and B) similar competition can only fire up Cavalry defensively, too, so look for them to try and spark their defence to life as they turn their attention to the playoffs.
What They Said
"We know we can play with anyone. It took us a bit of time to sort out the best way to play with this group, but once they got it, the guys really responded well. It suits us, the way we've been playing, and we're getting results because of it. I think it's nice to end the season with everyone having a good taste in their mouth heading into next year." -- Vancouver FC interim head coach Martin Nash
"All that mattered today was that we finished in third place. We did it by gaining another point more than the teams that are beneath us, yes, but sometimes you have to pick up a point on the road, irrespective of conditions and the availability of players. I've got a laundry list of things that probably haven't worked in our favour, but that's not us; we're not here to make excuses, we're here to make the adjustments we need. We adapted to the situation we had and went out there and got the point we needed - now, we get to use this week to heal up and prepare for the playoffs." -- Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Caniggia Elva, FC
Elva was lively up front for Cavalry, scoring his goal while adding three shots, creating five chances and completing two dribbles, as he was dangerous every time the ball found his feet in this game.
What’s next?
Vancouver won't be back in action until they take the field for the Concacaf Champions Cup early next year, although they'll find out their draw for that competition in December. As for Cavalry, though, they'll host either the Halifax Wanderers or York United in the semifinal qualifier next week, with the date and time still to be confirmed for that match.
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