The second game of Saturday’s Canadian Premier League doubleheader sees Halifax Wanderers FC visit Cavalry FC in a match between two sides itching to get back into the win column.
The hosts have lost three games in a row for just the second time in club history after falling at home to York United before losing away to Valour FC and Pacific FC. Cavalry outshot Pacific 16-13 on Monday, but just one of those attempts was on target in a frustrating defeat on Vancouver Island. Sean Young was the hero for the hosts, firing the ball past Marco Carducci in the second minute of stoppage time to steal all three points.
Halifax, meanwhile, have lost four in a row for the first time since July 2019 -- falling to Pacific FC and Atlético Ottawa on the road before two straight defeats at home. The first was a 2-1 loss against league leaders Forge FC after an 88th minute goal from Maxime Filion, before losing by the same scoreline last weekend to Vancouver FC. Thomas Meilleur-Giguère scored late for the Wanderers to kickstart a mad scramble that nearly clawed back a point, but goals from Matteo Campagna and Hugo Mbongue were enough for the Eagles to bring three points back home to the west coast.
Despite the recent slide, Cavalry remain in third place in the CPL table, but York United has caught up to them on points after overtaking now-fifth-place Halifax recently as well. With York hosting Forge earlier on Saturday, Cavalry and Halifax will know where things stand ahead of their match, but at this point in the season and with how they have played recently, full focus needs to be on getting three points and turning their form around.
Tommy Wheeldon Jr stressed as much in his press conference on Friday, saying his team needs to focus on the match ahead of them without getting distracted by the gaps between them and the top two.
Cavalry will be without Ali Musse on Saturday as their star winger serves the final match of a three-game suspension for violent conduct after being involved in a skirmish following the final whistle of a feisty defeat at home to York United on July 26. Maël Henry will see a specialist for a recurring hamstring injury and is unavailable, while Shamit Shome and Caniggia Elva remain sidelined with injuries as well.
Goteh Ntignee is expected to start, however, after a one-match ban following his involvement in a similar scuffle a few days later in Winnipeg. It was also announced on Friday that forward Jay Herdman has moved from the Cavs to Vancouver FC on loan until the end of the season in the hopes of getting more playing time before the Cavs make a decision on next year and beyond.
Giorgio Probo is not available for selection, with Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar saying his absence is a "club decision".
3 THINGS TO WATCH
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Both teams looking to break out of recent slumps: This match is a high-stakes one for both Cavalry and Halifax, with both looking to put recent runs of poor form behind them in order to keep pace with the teams around them in the table. Halifax has lost four in a row for their worst run of form since July 2019’s five losses in a row, while Cavalry has lost three in a row for just the second time in club history, and first time since July 2022. With Forge FC and Atlético Ottawa both more than ten points up on the third-place Cavs, the CPL Shield might be out of reach for everyone else with eleven matches remaining in the regular season, but with York United surging up the table in recent weeks, both of these teams need to get back on track. Cavalry will be looking to maintain their spot in third, while Halifax will try to jump back over the Nine Stripes in the table, before York can start to run away from them – plus the obvious incentive of boosting team morale and confidence heading into the final ten-game stretch of the regular season.
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Can Warschewski find the goals again?: When Tobias Warschewski is at his best, Cavalry as a whole are at their best. The reigning Golden Boot winner started the season well with five goals in Cavalry’s first seven league matches, but has not found the back of the net since then – scoring most recently on May 25 in a 4-0 win over Valour. Warschewski has looked increasingly frustrated as his drought has gone on, despite showing flashes of the player who has the potential to be the best in the CPL when he’s in good form and a good frame of mind. He will be looking to get back into the goal column against a Wanderers side that he has already scored against in 2025, and has five goals and two assists in 11 games against throughout his CPL career.
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Can Wanderers start and finish halves better?: As Patrice Gheisar said after last week’s defeat to Vancouver FC, no team ever likes to concede goals, but sometimes the timing of goals can be particularly frustrating for teams. Goals at the very beginning or ending of halves can force teams to scrap their gameplans, and for the Wanderers that has been a consistent theme of late. Eight of the last nine goals they have conceded have been in the first or last ten minutes of halves, with the other coming in the 11th minute of their road defeat to Pacific FC on July 12 – the game that began this four-game losing streak. Against Vancouver, Halifax had done a good job of limiting their opponents’ chances for most of the first half, but Matteo Campagna scored from a set piece in the 40th minute and Hugo Mbongue scored 33 seconds after the second half kicked off, digging the hosts into a hole they were not able to climb out of.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Cavalry FC: Carducci; Aird, Laing, Montgomery, Kamdem; Gutiérrez, Piepgrass; Ntignee, Camargo, Gherasimencov; Warschewski
Halifax Wanderers FC: Yesli; Pearlman, Meilleur-Giguère, Sow, Timoteo; Callegari, Rampersad; Rea, Telfer, Johnston; Coimbra
ALL-TIME SERIES
Cavalry FC wins: 13 || Halifax Wanderers FC wins: 3 || Draws: 8
Last meeting:
June 14, 2025 — Halifax Wanderers FC 1-1 Cavalry FC
KEY QUOTES
"They're not happy, and I think that's probably the best part of this football club. I learned [after last week's defeat] that we've only ever lost three games in a row once, so that's uncharted waters in a parity league. This is our seventh season, so lads don't like it, there's things that could have gone our way, but for me I'd be more worried as a manager if we weren't getting the chances." -- Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr
"A great manager once said this: you're either going through it, you're getting out of it, or you're about to get into it, and that's maybe life. For us, we're in it, we're hoping to get out of it, but regardless of anything, it's a game that we have to have the highest level of concentration." -- Halifax Wanderers FC head coach Patrice Gheisar