Welcome to As It Stands. At the start of each week through the end of the season, we’ll bring you this easy-to-digest wrap-up of everything you need to know from the weekend that was in the Canadian Premier League, and keep tabs on how each team is progressing in its hunt for silverware.

September rolls on, and the title race in the Canadian Premier League might be getting just a little bit clearer.

In matchweek 22, three sides came out with victories, to varying degrees of impact in the standings.

We began on Friday night, when York United visited Vancouver FC and claimed a 1-0 win thanks to a perhaps unlikely hero; Nyal Higgins, getting the nod at centre-back recently due to a variety of injuries in the Nine Stripes’ backline, scored a header from a set-piece for his first CPL goal in his 42nd match.

Saturday’s CPL action kicked off with a 2-1 Forge FC win at Tim Hortons Field over rivals Cavalry FC, as Tristan Borges scored a pair to keep his side securely in first place. Later that night, Pacific FC broke a seven-game winless run in league play by thrashing the nine-man Halifax Wanderers 3-0 at Starlight Stadium.

Finally, a rare Monday night contest saw Valour FC take an early lead at home over second-place Atlético Ottawa, but the visitors salvaged a 1-1 draw as Rubén del Campo converted a controversial penalty kick in the second half.

After all that action, here’s how things stand with about five weeks left to play. Forge remain out in front; can anybody catch them? What about the sides chasing Vancouver for fifth?

Certainly, there’s a lot still to play for in both the title and playoff races, but the margins are thin and the runway is shortening rapidly. Don’t forget, though: both Pacific and the Halifax Wanderers still have that game in hand. The Tridents could go level on points with Vancouver if they win their extra match (although they’d still be behind them due to the head-to-head tiebreaker).

It’s been a busy football weekend elsewhere, by the way. Of course, many of us will have watched the Canadian men’s national team’s win over the United States on Saturday (more on that here); Jesse Marsch’s boys are back in action on Tuesday night in Texas against Mexico — be sure to watch that one live on OneSoccer.

Meanwhile, CPLers have been in action over the weekend on the international stage. A total of 10 players got called to represent their various national teams, and a few made serious impacts.

All four CPL players — Ryan Telfer, Andre Rampersad, Steffen Yeates and Reon Moore — started for Trinidad and Tobago in what turned out to be a 4-0 defeat in Honduras; it seems Telfer and Rampersad may have been more missed by their club than Yeates and Moore, as the latter two’s Pacific FC trounced the former’s Halifax Wanderers. Trinidad are back ion action on Tuesday night against French Guiana.

Haiti have played twice this window already and recorded two wins — 4-1 over Puerto Rico and 6-0 against Sint Maarten — with the help of a couple CPLers. Vancouver FC’s Miki Cantave started both matches and scored twice against Sint Maarten, while Forge’s Garven Metusala contributed to the clean sheet in the latter match.

Pacific midfielder Marco Dominguez got the start for Guatemala in an impressive 0-0 draw with Costa Rica, and he also came off the bench in a 3-1 win over Martinique. Both Gabriel Bitar (Vancouver FC) and Matthew Baldisimo (York United) have been in action at the Merdeka Tournament in Malaysia representing Lebanon and the Philippines, respectively; Bitar’s Lebanon lost to Malaysia on Monday to finish second, while the Philippines fell to Tajikistan on penalties in the third-place match.

Vancouver FC youngster Grady McDonnell scored for the Republic of Ireland U-17s against Denmark and participated in both friendlies, though his side suffered a 2-1 and 2-0 loss, both to the Danes — however, neither was the worst result for Irish football over the weekend (and that is the most I’ll be saying about that here).

Finally, congratulations to Kwasi Poku! The former Forge striker has settled in nicely at RWD Molenbeek in Belgium; after making his first start last week, he got the nod again in Saturday’s cup match and scored his first goal for the club in a 5-0 triumph over Aywaille.

 Tuesday Reading

If the playoffs started today…

Finally, a change to write about in this section! A win for York and a Cavalry loss meant the Nine Stripes jumped into third, and the relative comfort of a full week’s preparation for a home playoff game rather than the midweek gauntlet.

Fourth is not a place Cavalry will want to occupy come season’s end; they’re only two points out of second though, so a lot could still change, especially after they play Atlético Ottawa this weekend.

Awards Watch

Rubén del Campo is all alone atop the Golden Boot race now after becoming the first player to hit double digits in goals this year, scoring his 10th with a penalty against Valour FC.

Meanwhile, the Player of the Year competition is no closer to a resolution; however, Tristan Borges might have re-entered the conversation? He’s up to eight goals and five assists, putting him third in the league in both. If he continues his production and helps Forge to a title, he’s got a real shot.

Meanwhile, York will be anxiously awaiting an update on Noah Abatneh, who left their game against Vancouver in the 16th minute with injury; Abatneh is a major candidate for Best U-21 Canadian Player, especially from his play in the last few weeks, and any significant absence for him would not only hurt his candidacy, but also York’s title ambitions.

Breaking down the run-in

We’re late enough into the season that it’s time to start looking at how each club’s last stretch is shaping up.

Already, one team is looking at clinch scenarios; Forge could officially secure a playoff spot this weekend in Halifax. A win or a draw will secure their place in the postseason no matter what; they could even clinch if they lose and Pacific FC lose to Vancouver FC, because Forge’s 41 current points would be the same as Pacific’s maximum possible, and the Tridents couldn’t pass them due to tiebreakers.

Here’s how the last five weeks shape up. York United, Halifax and Valour all have four home games left, and York in particular have the mercy of not having to leave the Greater Toronto/Hamilton area again until their final match of the regular season.

Home matches are listed in bold, and away matches are listed in italics.

Cavalry FC	Atlético Ottawa	Halifax Wanderers	Forge FC
Pacific FC	York United	Vancouver FC	Pacific FC
Halifax Wanderers	Vancouver FC	York United	Valour FC
York United	Pacific FC	Valour FC	Atlético Ottawa
Forge FC	Halifax Wanderers	Atlético Ottawa	Vancouver FC
Vancouver FC	Valour FC	Pacific FC	Cavalry FC
			York United

Vancouver FC	York United	Pacific FC	Valour FC
Halifax Wanderers	Halifax Wanderers	Forge FC	Cavalry FC
Atlético Ottawa	Pacific FC	Cavalry FC	Forge FC
Valour FC	Forge FC	Halifax Wanderers	Atlético Ottawa
Cavalry FC	Vancouver FC	Valour FC	Pacific FC
York United	Cavalry FC	Atlético Ottawa	Halifax Wanderers
Forge FC

U-21 Minutes Update

Vancouver FC became the third club to pass the 2,000-minute mark this weekend, with Elage Bah and James Cameron both getting the start against York. The remaining clubs all have plenty of options to fulfill their quota over the next six or seven games, although Halifax do still have some catching up to do — although the sole silver lining to Saturday’s match might be the 277 minutes they acquired, thanks to appearances by Aiden Rushenas, Tiago Coimbra, Jefferson Alphonse, Camilo Vasconcelos and professional debutant Jamai Royer.

For the full player-by-player breakdown on the Jones Deslauriers | Navacord U-21 Minute Leaderboard, click here.

Here’s how all eight teams are progressing toward the 2,000-minute threshold:

Coming up next…

Friday, Sept. 13

York United FC vs. Valour FC (8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT)

Saturday, Sept. 14

Halifax Wanderers FC vs. Forge FC (3 p.m. AT/2 p.m. ET)
Pacific FC vs. Vancouver FC FC (2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET)

Sunday, Sept. 15

Cavalry FC vs. Atlético Ottawa (3 p.m. MT/5 p.m. ET)

(Watch all games live on OneSoccer)

Photo of the Week

We’ve used a few of these Forge anvil shots before, but this might be the sickest one yet. The steam and the floodlights add a certain drama to Borges’ well-earned celebration here — as does Alessandro Hojabrpour lurking behind the photographers.