The Vancouver Whitecaps will look to continue their strong 2025 campaign this week, shifting their attention to the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship, where they’ll take on Forge in leg one at Hamilton Stadium on Wednesday.
A first-ever meeting between these two sides, it promises to be a fascinating matchup as the Whitecaps enter this game sitting fifth in all of MLS, while Forge finds themselves atop the Canadian Premier League standings, yet to lose in league play or in this tournament.
As a result, this Forge team will offer the Whitecaps a stiff test as they continue to push for a fourth consecutive Canadian Championship victory after lifting the Voyageurs Cup in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Looking to lead the way for the Whitecaps against Forge is the MVP of their 2024 triumph, Isaac Boehmer, as the young Canadian goalkeeper looks set to backstop his team across these two semi-final games, remaining their preferred option in this competition.
After backstopping the Whitecaps to the 2024 Voyageurs Cup, even making a huge penalty save against Toronto FC’s Federico Bernardeschi in the final en route to claiming the tournament’s MVP and best Young Player awards, Boehmer is looking to build on those performances in this year’s competition.
With how good the Whitecaps have been in 2025 across all competitions, they want to keep that good momentum going in this tournament, as they look to become the second team to win four straight Canadian Championships after Toronto FC.
“Yeah, the team's performing very well,” Boehmer told CanPL.ca last week. “We're pushing every week to do better and better, and I think we're doing that. We have a big game coming up against Forge next week, and we're going to be ready for that.”
For Boehmer, this is also a good opportunity to showcase himself, as minutes have been a bit harder to come by in 2025 due to the Whitecaps' success. He’s on pace to at least match his first-team appearances from 2024, which saw him earn seven starts (including five in the Canadian Championship), as this first leg vs. Forge will push him to five starts on the season, but he would’ve perhaps hoped to earn a bigger role than that so far.
At the same time, when the starter in front of you is a 2025 MLS All-Star, Yohei Takaoka, all you can do is be patient and wait for opportunities.
This competition is a great place to earn such auditions, as many young Canadians can attest to over the years, and the 23-year-old knows that well. If he can find a good showing vs. Forge, and perhaps it could earn him some MLS minutes in the coming weeks, and then have a snowball effect from there.
“There are lots of opportunities in this competition for young players across the pitch,” Boehmer said. “It’s an opportunity to do well and to show what we have so that we're ready for MLS games, as well, if we need to be.”
Between that, the desire to win the four-peat with his club, and that feeling of Canadian pride, Boehmer will have lots to play for in this tie and is looking forward to the opportunity to lead his team in both games.
“Yeah, I think it's a big tournament for any Canadian player, especially for me, being born and raised here,” he offered.
He added, “I’m not worried about what’s happened in the last three years; I'm more worried about this one. So for bragging rights, I don't care about those until we've won, it’s all about our game next week for us to focus on, and that's what we'll be ready for.”
While the Whitecaps are yet to play Forge in their existence, however, Boehmer is one of a couple of players in this squad who have seen them first-hand.
Along with Jayden Nelson and Ralph Priso, who played Forge when with Toronto FC in 2022 (as part of the postponed 2020 final), Boehmer was on loan with Pacific FC when they beat Forge in the 2021 CPL Final at Hamilton Stadium.
Boehmer didn’t play that day, as he watched on from the bench as Pacific claimed their first and only North Star Cup, but that final remains a fond memory of his, for many reasons.
From that feeling of lifting the trophy, to the progress he made as a player despite having just one appearance with Pacific in his few months on loan, Boehmer looks back nicely on his time with the Tridents, joking that he’d love nothing more for his current side to channel a similar result at that same stadium in leg one, this time with him in goal.
“It was a different environment from what I was getting here, which was good for me to move to and play a little bit in,” Boehmer said of his time with Pacific. It was a fun run with Pacific that we had, winning the (North Star Cup) there. I didn’t get to play in that final against Forge, but now I get to play Forge, and hopefully we can get the same result.”
Yet, once again, that’s a good reminder of what’s at stake for these Whitecaps - winning this tournament isn’t just seen as an objective, but a bare minimum requirement for them.
With eyes on claiming the Supporters Shield or MLS Cup for the first time (if not both), they don’t want to sacrifice their success in this competition to achieve those things, either.
Certainly, their ambitions speak for themselves - despite having the start to the year that they did, which included a run to the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup final, they recently made a huge move to boost their trophy ambitions, bringing in German footballing icon, Thomas Müller, on a free transfer.
A legend of the game who won it all at Bayern Munich, including 13 German titles, two Champions Leagues and a World Cup with Germany, he’s expected to be a piece that pushes the Whitecaps over the top in their quest to chase MLS’s biggest trophies.
Not only will he give them a big boost of quality on the pitch, but he’ll be a key piece in the locker room, too, bringing valuable leadership to the table, which will be invaluable for a young team.
Then, for the Whitecaps goalkeepers, like Boehmer, he’ll give them a lot more work to do in training, helping offer daily insight into what it’s like to stop elite forwards.
Plus, for Boehmer, who is of German descent and grew up watching both the German National Team and the Bundesliga with his family, it’s a dream come true for him, too, as he looks forward to welcoming the German icon to the club that he’s been at for over seven years.
“It’s really cool,” Boehmer said of Müller’s arrival. “Growing up, being a German, we always watched him play with the National Team and with Bayern Munich, so it’s pretty special that he’s coming here. I hope to be good friends with him, to be a good teammate, and to get off to a good start.”
“Just watching him with the National Team at all of those World Cups, (especially) when Germany won the World Cup in 2014 that was pretty special, was hoping he’d pass Miroslav Klose for the most goals in the tournament, but he’s done so much for the country, and football in general, so it’s awesome to see him come here.”
With Müller not set to arrive in Vancouver after the first leg of this Forge tie, however, Boehmer will keep his focus on what’s ahead in the immediate future, which starts with a big showing at Hamilton Stadium.
While the vibe is great around these Whitecaps right now, the best way to keep it that way is to keep winning, and they’ll look to continue that in this tie.
Boehmer will hope to play a big role in any triumph, so look for him to step up in a big way when his team takes the field on Wednesday.
“When the team does well, everyone's happy coming into the facility, and when you're on the field, you're always happy,” Boehmer said. “That's a great thing. We're ready for the coming weeks, for the games to come, and everyone's pushing each other to be better, especially in the goalkeeper group.”
