The league leaders' chase for the CPL Shield continues in Hamilton on Saturday, when Forge FC host the Halifax Wanderers in the two clubs' final meeting of the 2025 regular season.
For the first time this year, Forge come into this week smarting after a loss. Their remarkable streak of 20 CPL matches unbeaten ended last Saturday, when Cavalry FC handed their rivals a heavy 4-1 defeat in Calgary.
Still, Forge remain on course for the regular season title, still sitting six points ahead of second-placed Atlético Ottawa with a 13-7-1 record. With 46 points in 21 games, they still have the CPL's single-season record in their sights; Cavalry had 62 points in 2019, and Forge's current pace has them on track for 61.3, so that mark is very much within reach.
Likewise, Forge have been scoring about 1.86 goals per game and are on pace for 52, which would also surpass Cavalry's record of 51 set in 2019.
Currently standing in the way of that quest for history, however, are the Wanderers. Halifax have been to Hamilton twice already this year, including once in the TELUS Canadian Championship, and lost both times. They've also hosted Forge twice in Nova Scotia, and still not beaten them, though they did manage a 0-0 draw in their first meeting of the year.
Patrice Gheisar will be hoping that head-to-head form guide goes out the window this week, though, because his team is in a heated race for playoff positioning. The Wanderers enter matchweek 22 in fourth place, one back of third-placed Cavalry and two ahead of York United.
Considering all the benefits to coming in third — a shorter path to the CPL Final, and avoiding a midweek knockout match at the start of the postseason — every point is crucial.
Thankfully for the Wanderers, they come into this game riding high after back-to-back four-goal performances at home. They beat Valour 4-1 two weeks ago, then trounced York United 4-0 last Monday to jump ahead of the Nine Stripes.
What will concern Halifax, however, is that they're down a few key players this week. Forward Ryan Telfer and midfielder Andre Rampersad are both away on international duty with Trinidad and Tobago, which is a blow to the team's depth. Meanwhile, Gheisar said that young striker Tiago Coimbra remains questionable for this match, after he left last week's match in just the 19th minute with injury.
There's no shortage of high-stakes storylines surrounding this big game in Hamilton, so don't miss what's sure to be a spirited clash, on both TSN and OneSoccer.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
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How do Hammers respond after loss? Something Forge haven't had to do yet this season is go into a week of training after a disappointing defeat. That loss in Calgary was quite the gut-punch, dissolving their quest to go an entire season unbeaten. So, this week's game will be a test of character. With that streak over, can they refocus on the task at hand and make sure their place atop the table doesn't come under threat? It can be difficult to get right back to the top of your game after a heavy defeat to a rival, but sometimes that's the exact wake-up call a good team needs to iron out some bad habits and get back to their best. It's possible that Forge take their frustration out in this game and come out aggressive, particularly after Bobby Smyrniotis was candid about how poor they were with the ball last week.
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Halifax to test attacking depth: Patrice Gheisar has some tough decisions to make in arranging his attack this week, with Ryan Telfer away on international duty and Tiago Coimbra unlikely to be fit enough to start. Jason Bahamboula scored twice last week, and Yohan Baï and Vitor Dias both scored once, so they're all likely to start, however none is a natural number nine. Bahamboula played Coimbra's role last week, and has slightly more experience in the striker position, so he's the probable starter in the middle. Meanwhile, Dias and Sean Rea will likely play as a pair of quasi-number 10s, which has worked well the past couple weeks but will be even more important to build-up play this time.
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Battle of marquee centre-backs: Perhaps the two biggest player transfers of the last off-season were Dan Nimick moving to Forge from Halifax, and the Wanderers replacing him with former Pacific defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère. Both have been incredibly successful at their new clubs; Nimick is the arguable front-runner for Defender of the Year, and Meilleur-Giguère isn't far behind him. However, both players will face one of their biggest tests of the season this weekend. Meilleur-Giguère has to lead the Halifax backline against a stacked Forge attack looking to make a statement after a loss. Nimick, meanwhile, needs to help keep quiet a Wanderers team that not only knows him pretty well, but has also scored 10 goals in its last three games.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Forge FC: Koleilat; Rama, Nimick, Achinioti-Jönsson, Jevremović; Bekker, Hojabrpour, Borges; Ampomah, Wright, Massunda
Halifax Wanderers: Yesli; Pearlman, Meilleur-Giguère, Sow, Timoteo; Callegari, Johnston; Baï, Rea, Dias; Bahamboula
ALL-TIME SERIES
Forge wins: 13 || Halifax wins: 5 || Draws: 10
Last meeting:
July 25, 2025 — Halifax Wanderers 1-2 Forge FC
KEY QUOTES
"When you're not good on the ball, the field is open. There's transitions, and in transitions, teams can score goals, including [against] Forge. If we're not good on the ball, we're going to keep ourselves open to transitions. Where did those goals come from? Transition moments. So it's very simple. When you pass the ball to the other team when you have zero pressure on you, it's going to be a problem." – Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis after the match vs. Cavalry
"We have to remain grounded and realize that what we've done really well is create more chances, and being able to finish those chances, and even in that area we could look to improve. The focus for us is to identify the areas we need to take care of as a team, and that's regardless of if it's home or away, or we're playing Hamilton or York or Ottawa." – Halifax head coach Patrice Gheisar