Final Score: Cavalry FC 5-4 Vancouver FC |
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Match in a minute or less
Cavalry FC and Vancouver FC tied the league record for most goals in a single match on Sunday night, with the Cavs winning 5-4 on a 97th minute winner from returnee Daan Klomp.
The first half was filled with goals, starting with a CPL record of two in the first three minutes and 36 seconds. Goteh Ntignee opened the scoring from a few yards out, tapping the ball home after it bounced around the box following a set piece delivery, and Tobias Warschewski doubled Cavalry's advantage 71 seconds later with a powerful strike into the bottom left corner.
Nicolas Mezquida pulled one back for Vancouver from the penalty spot, but Michael Baldisimo curled a shot off the post and in to restore the hosts' two-goal lead. Terran Campbell capped a chaotic 45 minutes with a driven strike of his own, picking out the bottom right corner of Marco Carducci's net from outside the box.
The second half was equally crazy, with four more goals finding the back of the net. A great solo effort from Hugo Mbongue tied the match at just before the hour mark, which was how the match seemed destined to end. Mihail Gherasimencov powered a shot into the back of the net in the 88th minute, seemingly winning the game for the hosts, but Emrick Fotsing tied it up in stoppage time with a header from a corner kick.
In his return to Cavalry after signing again for the club midweek, Daan Klomp stepped up and scored a memorable late headed winner to snap Cavalry's four-game losing skid.
Three Observations
Cavs strike twice in the opening five minutes to set the tone for chaotic opening half
Cavalry FC came into this match with just one goal in their previous four outings, so it was a welcome sight when Goteh Ntignee opened the scoring for Tommy Wheeldon Jr's side in the third minute of Sunday's game agaisnt Vancouver FC.
It was even more pleasing for the Cavs boss when Tobias Warschewski scored just one minute and eleven seconds later, doubling their advantage after just three minutes and 36 seconds of play, a new CPL record for the fastest time to score two goals in a match. Warschewski's goal, which ended a personal scoreless run that went back to May, came just ten seconds after the kickoff following Ntignee's goal. The German striker can be a streaky player, usually for the better, so he will be hoping that this can snowball now and he can get back to the scoring ways of winning the golden boot and scoring in both playoff games as Cavalry ended 2024 red-hot en route to the North Star Cup.
Sergio Camargo assisted both goals, and Ali Musse ended up with two assists in the match as well as the Cavalry attack finally had the breakthrough they have been looking for for weeks. Musse's eight chances created in the match are the third-most in a single match in CPL history.
It was a flying start for the Cavs, but Nicolas Mezquida fired a warning shot in the 18th minute when he slotted a penalty past Marco Carducci to show that the Eagles were not going to go down without a fight.
Michael Baldisimo curled a shot from the edge of the penalty area off the post and in for his first CPL goal in the 26th minute, but just when it seemed like Cavalry was really starting to take full control of the match, Terran Campbell fired a low shot into the bottom right corner to make it 3-2 -- which is how the first 45 minutes came to an end.
The ending of the second half is what will rightly get the headlines, but the first half in Calgary was equally crazy and set the stage for what became the joint-highest-scoring match in league history.
Campbell returns to top of all-time goals list, Mbongue continues fine form since joining Eagles
Despite it coming in a losing effort, Vancouver FC's offence exploded for four goals on Sunday, with the match a big one for two Eagles attackers in particular.
With his strike at the end of the first half, Terran Campbell found the back of the net for just the second time this season as he looks to get back to the scoring ways that saw him become one of the best goalscorers in league history. In fact, the goal was the 41st of his CPL career, moving him into a tie for most all-time with former Pacific and Vancouver teammate Alejandro Diaz, who scored goals 40 and 41 in front of him last weekend in the Salish Sea Derby.
Campbell scored 10+ goals in three of the first five seasons in CPL history -- in 2019, 2021 and 2023 -- but was injured for a lot of the 2024 season with Forge FC and has since never recaptured that scoring form, including since his return to the west coast this year with the Eagles.
There have been signs that the old Terran Campbell is waiting to be unleashed again, and Sunday's goal is the latest example of that, so he will be looking to find some consistency in the final nine weeks of the season, and in the Canadian Championship as his side looks to finish the job in leg two against Atletico Ottawa next month and reach the final for the first time in club history.
Also scoring on Sunday was Hugo Mbongue. On loan from Toronto FC, Mbongue has the ambitious target of scoring ten goals for Vancouver, and found his third goal in five games since joining the club in all competitions. He scored against Halifax Wanderers FC in his second match for the club, assisted a goal in the Salish Sea Derby last weekend, scored midweek in the Canadian Championship against Ottawa, and now scored again against Cavalry.
The Eagles seem to have found a real difference-maker in Mbongue, who has started all of those matches and becoming the focal point of his new side's attack. Interim head coach Martin Nash praised him after the game, saying that his striker is "a tremendous athlete" with a great physical presence and a key contributor on both sides of the ball.
With Nicolas Mezquida picking up a goal and an assist as well in this match and Emrick Fotsing scoring his first goal since returning from a spell on the sidelines through injury, Vancouver's attack is starting to round into shape. Next they need to find more consistency defensively and try to string a few positive results together ahead of the aforementioned Canadian Championship semifinal second leg in Ottawa in mid-September.
Klomp's fairytale moment caps rollercoaster ending
When Daan Klomp entered the pitch in the 65th minute of Sunday night's match, it was tied at 3-3 and Tobias Warschewski had just missed a penalty that would have given the Cavs the lead. There was a natural thought that followed, of what if Klomp -- who returned to the Cavs this week after previously establishing himself as a CPL legend with two trophies and a stack of individual hardware -- were to be the hero in his first match back at ATCO Field?
Mihail Gherasimencov thought he won the game in the 88th minute for Cavalry with a well-struck shot that Callum Irving couldn't keep out despite his best efforts. Then, Cavalry's world came crashing down when Emrick Fotsing headed home from a corner kick five minutes into stoppage time, seemingly extending the recent winless run for the hosts.
Ali Musse lobbed a cross into the box in the seventh minute of stoppage time, which Max Piepgrass headed back across goal to Klomp, who redirected it into the bottom corner, sending the fans in Calgary into a frenzy as that "what if?" moment came to fruition.
Klomp's first goal back was the ninth of the match, tying the CPL record for most in one match, and seeing the match end in the first 5-4 scoreline in league history. It also broke Cavalry's aforementioned four-game winless streak seconds before it became five games -- a much-needed result for the Cavs to have any shot at climbing back into the top two in the standings, now ten points back of an Atletico Ottawa side that lost to league leaders Forge FC earlier in the day.
Klomp was emotional in the postgame press conference, calling it a fairy tale to play out the way it did, and that he was overwhelmed hearing the reaction from the crowd. They will all be hoping it's the first of many great moments in this final stretch of the season, with Cavalry looking to add to their trophy cabinet for the third season in a row.
What They Said
"It's kind of like a fairy tale. I couldn't write it any better so it's the best welcome home story I could have wished for. To be honest, I was still coming down when the ball went in, so I didn't really see it go in, and then I hear the noise and I knew it was in and I was a bit overwhelmed when it went in. It's an amazing feeling." — Cavalry FC defender Daan Klomp
"It's tough right now, tough to take. We battled to the death with the guys and that's all I can ask for. I had a go at half-time because I felt we weren't quite at it, and I thought we had a good second half for the most part -- a little bit tired at the end but still managed to get the equalizer, then the last kick of the game is tough to take, but there's a lot of positives for our guys." — Vancouver FC interim head coach Martin Nash
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Ali Musse, Cavalry FC
Musse provided two assists for his teammates on Sunday night, and created eight chances -- the third most in a single match in CPL history, and one more than every other player who took the pitch combined.
What’s next?
Vancouver return home for another tough test on Friday night, hosting league-leading Forge FC (7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET). Cavalry hit the road, visiting Atlético Ottawa at TD Place (7 p.m. ET/5 p.m. MT) on Saturday.
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