2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #24
York United FC vs. Halifax Wanderers FC
May 24, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET/8 p.m. AT
York Lions Stadium in Toronto, Ontario
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It’ll be a crucial game for both clubs this Friday night when York United host Halifax Wanderers at York Lions Stadium, as the two sides have plenty to play for in matchweek seven after a challenging week.

For York, it’ll be the opening line of a new chapter after head coach Martin Nash was let go on Tuesday. Assistant coach Mauro Eustáquio will take the reins in an interim role, as he’ll look for his first win in his first ever game as a professional head coach.

Meanwhile, Halifax are desperate for victory after slipping to the bottom of the table on Monday, losing 2-1 at home to Valour FC and allowing the Winnipeg club to leapfrog them. The Wanderers have yet to win a game this season, their only point coming from a well-earned 1-1 draw with Cavalry FC two weeks ago.

Six games into the 2024 campaign, York United sit fifth in the league with a 2-1-3 record and seven points. Last weekend, they drew 2-2 with Cavalry FC in a fairly chaotic back-and-forth match. They’ve also been good at home recently, winning and scoring three goals in each of their last two matches at York Lions Stadium.

However, last time the Wanderers paid a visit to northern Toronto, things worked out quite well for them, winning 2-0 there last July. In fact, Halifax haven’t lost to the Nine Stripes at York Lions Stadium since a 6-2 drubbing all the way back in 2019, with three wins and five draws since then.

The historical series between these sides is split right down the middle, though; both teams have five wins and they’ve split the points nine times.

Is this the time for one of them to take the upper hand? Certainly, both teams will be ultra-motivated to do so.

All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

3 THINGS TO WATCH 

• What to expect from York after emotional week? Midseason coaching changes always naturally disrupt the rhythm of a team, and that’ll be the case at York. With Eustáquio officially taking over at training on Wednesday, he won’t likely have changed much from the game plan he’d been working on with Nash already. However, it’ll be interesting to see how the players react to the sudden change. Will they be motivated to make a statement with a third straight home win? Or will the whirlwind of the past few days be a distraction from the immediate task of playing Halifax? This match will be a major test of character for the Nine Stripes.

• Wanderers desperate for result, need goals: Patrice Gheisar has done his best to remain positive amid the winless start to the season, but he admitted after the loss to Valour that his side needed to do some “soul-searching” and be “better in every moment of the game.” He looked at this road trip to York as perhaps exactly what his side needs to regroup and get back on the horse on a short turnaround from Monday afternoon to Friday night. One area where the Wanderers have struggled has been up front; they’ve scored just three goals in CPL play so far this season, which is the fewest in the league. None of their forwards have found the scoresheet yet, with the likes of Christian Volesky, Massimo Ferrin and Tiago Coimbra all desperate to score their first of the year. Ferrin and Coimbra do look to be rounding into form after some injury issues to begin the year, which is a positive for the Wanderers; getting one or two on the board would do a lot to lift the confidence of the group. Gheisar mentioned Thursday that players like Ferrin and Coimbra are most familiar with the team’s tactical identity, and missing them has made it hard to instill that identity with newer players.

• Wright and Ricci heating up together for York: After scoring just twice in his first season with the club last year, Brian Wright already has four in his ledger for York this season. In Calgary last Saturday, he demonstrated his striker’s instinct by pouncing on a mistake at the back to score. Wright also played provider for Austin Ricci’s goal, holding it up and squaring it back to Ricci at the top of the box. Those two have provided much of the danger in attack for York so far this year, which is welcome news for the Nine Stripes. Ricci spoke on Saturday about the chemistry he and Wright are starting to build; if they can continue to nurture that, then York might have found a good solution going forward.