2025 CPL Regular Season — Match #12
Valour FC vs. Halifax Wanderers
April 25 at 7 p.m. CT/9 p.m. AT
Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Watch Live: OneSoccer // Tickets Available Here
Valour FC host their 2025 home opener on Friday at Princess Auto Stadium – 38 days earlier than in 2024. Valour spent the first two months of the 2024 campaign on the road due to stadium renovations and are unquestionably thrilled to return to Winnipeg much earlier this season.
Improving on last season's disappointing home record is a primary goal for this Valour side, and one they believe will be critical to making a first-ever postseason appearance. Last season, they finished with just 17 points at home -- only Vancouver FC had fewer -- and just 14 goals in 14 matches.
The target is to re-establish Princess Auto Stadium as one of the most difficult away venues in the CPL. Between summer 2022 and 2023, for example, Valour went almost a calendar year without a home loss – 13 straight matches undefeated. Since that run ended on July 1, 2023, however, their home record is a disappointing 6-2-14.
Their first challenge of 2025 at Princess Auto Stadium is a significant one. The undefeated Halifax Wanderers come to town, fresh off a 3-1 victory over Pacific FC in their own home opener this past weekend and now Valour's.
This is the best the Wanderers have ever started a CPL season, with two wins and a draw through three matches. Never before have they won more than a single match, or collected more than three points overall, in their first three games of a CPL season. It took the Wanderers ten matches to accumulate seven points last season, nine the year prior.
A win on Friday night would also see them already surpass their total road points from 2024, during which they had a league-low six. Winnipeg has always been a pretty productive trip for the Wanderers, however, who have collected more points at Princess Auto Stadium (five) than any other away venue in the league over the past two seasons. They also have more wins against Valour (12) than any other CPL club.
The Wanderers are participating in their fourth straight home opener on Friday, having opened the season in the nation's capital, before playing in York United's home opener in week two, and their own this past Saturday.
Valour, meanwhile, have been strong in home openers, with just one loss all-time, which came back in their first-ever home match on May 4, 2019. They are coming into the match off a strong performance, a 1-1 draw with Forge FC in Hamilton this past Saturday.
Valour hope to show on Friday that the Forge match was closer to their 2025 identity than their season-opening loss against Pacific FC at Starlight Stadium, where they held a lot of possession but struggled to create chances. Halifax, meanwhile, has perhaps been a little more content to give up more possession than usual this season in favour of transitional opportunities.
The Winnipeg club are still searching for their first victory of the season, but hope history repeats itself on Friday, as they won their first match of the 2024 season 2-1 over Halifax. Valour held a strong 2-1-1 record against the Wanderers last season.
This is the final match of Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos's suspension, as assistant Daryl Fordyce will once again be on the touchline.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
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Can Valour begin important homestand with a victory?: After starting the season away on Vancouver Island and then in Hamilton, Valour are back in Winnipeg for a critical 12-day homestand with three matches. Starting with the Halifax Wanderers on Friday, and then Vancouver FC in the league the following Saturday, May 3, it is a crucial opportunity to get the home portion of their season off to a positive start. Then on Wednesday, May 7, they host TSS Rovers in the Canadian Championship, looking to advance in the competition for just the second time in club history. Win that, and they earn a home-and-away quarter-final against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Overall, this is a vital stretch for this Valour team early in the year if they want to take a step forward as a club in 2025.
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Halifax Wanderers’ depth proving to be a gamechanger: One thing is for certain, the Halifax Wanderers are going to come in waves this season – both with their starters and then the quality of players they can bring off the bench. This was certainly evident in their home opener this past weekend against Pacific FC. Looking to hold on to their lead late in that match, Halifax brought several players off the bench who proved crucial to preserving their victory, including striker Tiago Coimbra, captain Andre Rampersad and winger Yohan Baï. All made an impact, especially Baï, who put the match to bed with a lovely goal in stoppage time. Having players with different profiles, for example, the more traditional number nine in Coimbra versus the more link-up and dribbling-oriented Telfer, will only make them more difficult to play against for a full 90 minutes. This depth looks as though it will be a significant asset for the Wanderers this season.
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Zachary Fernandez faces his former club: Perhaps Valour’s most high-profile signing this off-season was former Halifax Wanderers full-back Zachary Fernandez. The 23-year-old made his professional debut with Halifax back in 2022, spending the past three seasons with the Wanderers and establishing himself as a top full-back in the CPL. Making his debut for Valour last weekend against Forge, Fernandez was brilliant, winning six of seven duels and making five interceptions, earning himself a spot in the league’s Gatorade Team of the Week. Now facing his former side on Friday, Fernandez will undoubtedly be hungry to replicate that performance. "He's a competitor, and that's why he earned the respect of a lot of people in this league," said Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos about what he likes about his new right-back. "He's the type of player that we want to see in this team. He embodies what this team needs to be about in order to reach our goals."
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Valour FC: Viscosi; Fernandez, Romeo, Facchineri, Antonoglou; Campbell, Ohin; Twardek, Ressurreição, Faria; Hundal
Halifax Wanderers: Yesli; Pearlman, Meilleur-Giguère, Sow; Baï, Johnston, Callegari, Timoteo; Probo, Rea, Telfer
ALL-TIME SERIES
Valour FC wins: 7 || Halifax Wanderers wins: 12 || Draws: 4
Last meeting:
Sept. 21, 2024 — Valour FC 1-1 Halifax Wanderers
KEY QUOTES
"[Halifax] have matured as a team. I think that the foundation has been built now for a couple of seasons. And they're just benefiting from that right now. I guarantee you that if we don't take care of the ball and we lose it fast, we could be exposed in transition. But that they will also be able, and if the game presents it to them, be able to possess the ball and be able to work their way to our goal and not force things...so we have to be prepared for that.” — Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos
"That's the goal, make this place a very difficult place to come and play against us. We're looking forward to it, it would be nice to kick off with our first win, at our home in front of our fans. Give them something to cheer for." — Valour FC midfielder Raphael Ohin
"We expect them to come in hungry, we know everybody wants to win their home openers, so we expect them to get at us right away, and we need to be equally strong, to match their energy, and their commitment for three points." — Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar