Cavalry FC's slow start to the 2025 Canadian Premier League season matches a trend from recent years, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating for Tommy Wheeldon Jr and his side.
Remarkably, the Cavs' streak of never winning a league game in April has extended into their seventh season in club history. Over the years they haven't let it faze them, though, and the 2023 CPL Shield and 2024 North Star Cup are proof of some of Wheeldon Jr's pieces of wisdom in times like these - the season is a marathon, not a sprint, and what matters is how you finish the season, not how you start it.
A season-opening loss to Forge FC in the CPL Final rematch was followed by a draw against Vancouver FC, and then a 3-1 home defeat to Atlético Ottawa on the weekend. That leaves Cavalry in seventh place through three games, and while they have played one fewer game than all of the teams above them, there has not been much evidence in the league so far that they belong above the playoff line just yet anyway.
Tuesday night's preliminary round game against Edmonton Scottish United SC in the Canadian Championship was a chance for them to reset against a team they were expected to beat, and in the end the night could not have gone much better for them in a 6-0 drubbing of the League1 Alberta champions.
"We didn't take Scottish lightly," Wheeldon Jr said after the match. "It was a cup game that we needed to win and advance, and we did. What pleased me is we had six different goalscorers and several with their first assist of the season, and that only bodes well for confidence."
Those six goalscorers included three scoring their first goals for Cavalry - Nicolas Wähling, Niko Myroniuk and Max Piepgrass, the latter of whom scored an incredible goal with a powerful shot from 35+ yards out. The other came from three players expected to carry a lot of the offensive load for the club this season - Tobias Warschewski, Ali Musse and Caniggia Elva.
Getting those guys going, particularly Musse and Wähling with their first goals of the season, is huge for the Cavs as they look to turn this result into improved form in the CPL - starting on Friday night in Toronto against York United. Mauro Eustáquio, who played for Wheeldon Jr at Cavalry in their inaugural 2019 season, has York playing some good football at the moment, and beating the Nine Stripes on the road will be a tough test, especially after playing across the country midweek.
Some of Cavalry's key players were rested with that in mind, though, with Tom Field, Callum Montgomery, Marco Carducci, Sergio Camargo and Michael Baldisimo among those watching from the sidelines on Tuesday night. Warschewski and Musse should also be fresh after only coming off the bench against Edmonton.
While it also served as rest, the Canadian Championship game was simultaneously an opportunity to rotate in some fresh faces. Joseph Holliday, Levi Laing, Mihail Gherasimencov, Owen Antoniuk and Elva all made their first starts for the club, and 17-year-old midfielder James McGlinchey made his debut off the bench as well.
The good performance from top to bottom was an indication that Wheeldon Jr can trust his depth to come in and maintain the club's high standards when called upon, something the club has traditionally had, and will absolutely need again in 2025. It was also a reward for so much work behind the scenes that these players have put in, some for months or years without getting onto the pitch.
"Joe Holliday's shown up every single day for the last two-and-a-half years and not played for the first team," Wheeldon Jr. said of his young goalkeeper, after mentioning that all of the players that came in provided a needed spark. "He's played under-21s, and I thought it was a great night for him to keep a shutout.
"What it does add to us is we know they can play. We've always known that our pathway [is] developing players for a reason. Credit to, my brother (Jay Wheeldon, the club's assistant coach and Technical Director) and (Head of Youth Development) Fran Bartolillo, they do a good job of bringing through these young players so that they're ready when called upon."
Up next for the Cavs is the aforementioned game against York United on Friday night, where they will be hoping to kick their CPL season into high gear in their first match of May. Montgomery squashed any fears on Wednesday that the team is letting their slow start get to them, especially after Tuesday night's win, and their now-famous result over Mexican giant Pumas in the Concacaf Champions Cup earlier in the year.
"There is a lot of talk about winning in April, but we want to be judged by how many games we win in November," he said. "And I’d just like to ask, how many other CPL teams have won games in February?"
The expectation, internally and externally, is that Cavalry will be just fine despite the annual early-season blip. Now they need to go out and prove it.
