Cavalry FC jumped ahead of York United into third place in the Canadian Premier League table on Friday night, as they triumphed 2-0 over the Nine Stripes at York Lions Stadium to collect three much-needed points.
For this key matchup in the title race, there was no shortage of talking points heading in. Cavalry had to play without two of their defensive stars, with reigning Player of the Year Daan Klomp suspended and in-form fullback Fraser Aird out injured. Meanwhile, the Nine Stripes were likewise missing some key pieces in the backline, but they were buoyed by the return of leading scorer Brian Wright after a three-game absence.
The Cavs came flying out of the gates, generating five shots in just over five minutes to start the game — one of them requiring an excellent reaction save from Thomas Vincensini.
Things did settle down after that opening flurry, but it would still be the Cavs opening the scoring at the 20-minute mark. Sergio Camargo made a lovely run toward the right side of the box and found Tobias Warschewski with the cutback; the German forward had not one but two attempts blocked by York’s Elijah Adekugbe on the goal line, but the ball fell once more — this time to Ali Musse, who buried it to put the visitors in front.
The rest of the first half passed relatively without incident, although a couple of heated moments right on the cusp of halftime did lead to a pair of yellow cards to York defenders Oswaldo León and Max Ferrari in quick succession.
With his side entering halftime down a goal, York coach Benjamín Mora opted to make a change at the interval, swapping Josué Martínez into his midfield in place of Santiago Márquez. Less than 15 minutes later, he also brought in Kembo Kibato — making his club debut after arriving last week from Vancouver FC — in place of Orlando Botello.
Just after the game ticked over an hour, though, Cavalry struck again. After York had the ball down in the attacking third, Warschewski dug the ball out and launched a counter, drawing three defenders toward him and knocking it forward for Camargo. He took a few strides with the ball in transition and looked up to see Vincensini well off his line, so Camargo lofted a shot from almost 40 yards out, sailing it over the head of the keeper and into the back of the net.
After taking a comfortable lead, Cavalry did well to see out the remainder of the evening. They controlled the tempo of the match and kept York from establishing a rhythm, also making a handful of changes to not only add some defensive cover but collect some much-needed U-21 minutes as well.
To make matters worse for York, Jorge Guzmán was shown a red card (for a second yellow within about 15 seconds of the first) just seconds before the end of the match, meaning he’ll now face suspension for at least one upcoming game as well.
The visitors thus held on to win 2-0, not only leapfrogging York to officially occupy third place, but also moving to level footing with second-place Atlético Ottawa at 38 points (although still behind with fewer wins).
Cavalry will clinch their spot in the playoffs this weekend if Halifax Wanderers draw against Valour FC and Vancouver FC lose to Forge FC.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
York United: Vincensini; Ferrari (Jimoh 64′), León, Higgins (Baldisimo 82′), Botello (Kibato 57′); Córdova, Márquez (Martínez 46′), Adekugbe, Guzmán; Wright (Voytsekhovskyy 82′), Babouli
Cavalry FC: Carducci; Harms, Montgomery, Field, Kamdem; Shome, Gutiérrez (Myroniuk 87′); Musse (Kobza 87′), Camargo, Wähling (Herdman 81′); Warschewski (Chanda 90+2′)
Goals
20′ — Ali Musse (Cavalry FC)
62′ — Sergio Camargo (Cavalry FC)
Discipline
45+1′ — Yellow: Oswaldo León (York United)
45+2′ — Yellow: Max Ferrari (York United)
53′ — Yellow: Orlando Botello (York United)
57′ — Yellow: Tom Field (Cavalry FC)
59′ — Yellow: Tobias Warschewski (Cavalry FC)
73′ — Yellow: Juan Cordóva (York United)
77′ — Yellow: Elijah Adekugbe (York United)
90+1′ — Yellow: Bradley Kamdem (Cavalry FC)
90+9′ — Yellow: Jorge Guzmán (York United)
90+9′ — 2nd Yellow: Jorge Guzmán (York United)