| Final Score: Cavalry FC 4-1 York United FC Goalscorers: Musse 8', Warschewski 17', 58', Singh (o.g.) 47'; Hundal 44' 2025 CPL Playoffs Semifinal Qualifier |
|---|
Match in a minute or less
The defending North Star Cup champions Cavalry FC are off to the Contender Semifinal following a dominant 4-1 victory over York United at ATCO Field on Sunday.
Cavalry took the lead just eight minutes into the match on a deflected Ali Musse strike from distance, and then doubled down nine minutes later as Tobias Warschewski added a second.
After Shaan Hundal gave the visitors hope with a clever goal just before halftime, Cavalry quickly extinguished it just two minutes into the second half as a run and cutback by Goteh Ntignee caused a Luke Singh own goal. Warschewski then put the match to bed with his second of the day in the 58th minute.
With that, York United's run in the 2025 CPL Playoffs comes to an end, while for Cavalry the road leads to a familiar stop: Hamilton Stadium to face rivals Forge FC in the 2025 CPL Contender Semifinal on Sunday, Nov. 2.
Three Observations
Cavalry FC begin North Star Cup defence with a statement; to face familiar foe Forge next
If there were any misconceptions that Cavalry FC were not a serious contender to repeat as North Star Shield champions, Sunday evening at ATCO Field quickly put those to bed.
In what they knew was their only home match of the 2025 Playoffs, regardless of the result, Cavalry put on a show. Starting with a goal just eight minutes into the match and ending the 90 minutes as the first CPL side to score four times in a playoff knockout match, Cavalry FC emphatically began their title defence.
The performance had all of the ingredients of Cavalry's recipe for success when they have been at their best this season: early goals, exciting attacking play, a team-wide complete defensive effort and brilliance in transition.
"From the first minute to the last, I thought they were brilliant," said Cavalry FC manager Tommy Wheeldon Jr. "Every man came on where the starter finished, even the way they trained this week, guys that weren't in the squad, I think were terrific."
Cavalry haven't lost this season when they scored first, and Sunday was a clear demonstration of why. Once they can force an opponent to open up, their front four becomes especially lethal in transition, and Cavalry did an excellent job searching out and exploiting gaps in York's shape.
Now, they depart Calgary for what they hope will be the first of two trips to Ontario over the next two weeks. First, for a fourth straight year in the CPL Playoffs, a meeting with Forge FC in Hamilton in the Contender Semifinal. The winner of that match is off to the nation's capital on Nov. 9 for the 2025 CPL Final.
With the way the playoff bracket is drawn out, Cavalry knew that their climb to the North Star Cup would eventually mean going face-to-face with this familiar foe, who they defeated in last year's CPL Final, and lost to in the Final in 2023 and 2019.
But while they will enter next Sunday's match in winning form, they are under no misconceptions that a "wounded animal" in Forge, who lost to Atlético Ottawa in the Championship Semifinal earlier on Sunday, will be an easy opponent. No third seed, which is where Cavalry finished after the regular season, has ever won a Contender Semifinal.
"Can I enjoy it for a second?" Tommy Wheeldon Jr. joked when asked about Forge after the match. "Listen, Forge are terrific. They're the best team in the league, right? That's why they lifted the Shield. Well, one of them did. But, it's up to us now to go to their place and make sure that we cause some trouble for them. Because we've done it before, but I know they'll be ready for us."
Missing Camargo, Cavalry FC's new-look front four dangerous as ever
Ahead of Sunday's match, Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. had a pivotal decision to make.
For the vast majority of this season, 27 of 28 matches in fact, when writing out his starting eleven, he wrote Sergio Camargo's name at the number 10 position. On Sunday, with the 31-year-old talisman out with injury, he was forced to write another name.
That name, intriguingly, was 2024 Golden Boot winner Tobias Warschewski. Moving the German back into central attacking midfield allowed Wheeldon Jr. to play Caniggia Elva with Warschewski for just the second time this season — last trying it on June 22 against Pacific FC. The rest of the front four spoke for itself: Goteh Ntignee on the left, and Ali Musse on the right.
The shift allowed Warschewski to play his usual marauding form of football, while still providing the team a reference point centrally with Elva. This manifested itself perfectly, as Elva set up both of Warschewski's goals — with the German attacker able to make later runs into the play to create those opportunities.
"I've been keeping it a 28-game secret until we got to the playoffs," said Wheeldon Jr., with a laugh, of the Elva-Warschewski partnership.
Elva explained to the media post-match that their partnership came down to chemistry, but also communication. With Elva playing most of his career in Germany, he and Warschewski could fluently communicate in the language, allowing them to speak without their opponents having any idea what they were planning.
A look at Warschewski's offensive action chart, below, shows just how many positions he took up around the pitch and was able to drift into, while still having Elva to play off of centrally. Warschewski now has five goal contributions in his three playoff matches with Cavalry.
On Sunday each of Cavalry's attackers demonstrated their individual and collective qualities. Musse opened the scoring with a lovely bit of skill and a curling shot from distance. Goteh Ntignee forced an own goal after a marauding run down the left flank, and Caniggia Elva showed his composure and creativity to earn two assists.
On top of what they did in attack, Cavalry's front four were outstanding in relentlessly pressing the York backline. Ntignee alone won possession 10 times on the day. That press helped lead to Cavalry's second goal in the 17th minute in particular, but caused York issues throughout the match.
York United's incredible playoff run comes to an end as they fail to manage key moments
With the travel and turnaround, Sunday was always going to be an incredibly difficult undertaking for York. Having played three-and-a-half hours in Halifax on Wednesday, defeating the Wanderers in a penalty shootout, the emotional high of that result was only going to carry them so far. They still had to execute to near perfection on Sunday.
The Nine Stripes made it all the more difficult for themselves when, just eight minutes into the match, they allowed Ali Musse to cut in from the left wing and open the scoring — before a turnover just nine minutes later led to a second for the hosts.
Still, as they have all season, York United stayed in the fight, and looked like they might have rocked the home side a little bit when they landed a counterpunch just before the half on a lovely goal with Riley Ferrazzo picking out Shaan Hundal.
Heading into the locker room down by just one goal, especially with how they had fought back in Halifax just days earlier, it felt like they were right in the game. Then, less than two minutes into the second half, York were picking the ball out of their own net again after defender Luke Singh accidentally deflected a Goteh Ntignee cutback into his own net.
"Suffering that 3-1 [goal] kind of killed everything that we had planned up for halftime," said York United head coach Mauro Eustáquio. "Then it was kind of running after the game, and obviously, the Cavs, being an experienced team, they control the momentum, they control the moments in the game, and we just couldn't get back."
Still, York end the 2025 season with their heads held high. Despite a significant amount of turnover in their first season under head coach Mauro Eustáquio, they established a clear identity that they built and improved on throughout the season. If they can continue to add to that strong foundation, the future is bright for the Nine Stripes.
"This team showed tremendous fight," said York full-back Riley Ferrazzo. "It's been an honour to be part of this group, with the staff, and really no regrets, just left with a bit of a sense of wanting more. But I can't fault the guys. It's never easy, and I know these guys left everything on the field every game."
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Tobias Warschewski, Cavalry FC
Really anyone in Cavalry's front four had a fair shout at this honour on Sunday. But with two goals, Warschewski was back to his best when Cavalry needed him most. He also completed 11 of 12 passes, created a chance, and fired four shots.
What’s next?
Cavalry FC advance to face Forge FC in the 2025 CPL Playoff Contender Semifinal on Sunday, November 2 (4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT). For York, meanwhile, this is the end of the road as they have been eliminated from the 2025 CPL Playoffs.
Watch all of the CPL Playoffs live on OneSoccer and TSN. In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.
