Screamers. Bangers. Worldies. Wondergoals. Whatever word comes first to mind to describe an incredible goal there has been an astonishing amount of them scored this season in the Canadian Premier League.
Be it bicycle kicks, volleys, long-range efforts or incredible feats of dribbling, the talent and inventiveness of the league’s players have been on full display in 2022.
“This year it is just like every weekend, you just keep seeing on social media these extraordinary goals,” said Valour FC midfielder Sean Rea. “[A few weeks ago] it was [Matteo] De Brienne with like a half-bicycle kick like nobody even knows what that was but it was a beautiful goal. [Brett] Levis at the beginning of the season against Ottawa where he takes on three guys, puts it top corner. Just a bunch of beautiful goals and it is good to see, that’s what fans want to see, that’s what we want to see, and that’s what we want to score. I think it is just great for everybody.”
Rea has scored a few highlight reel goals of his own (more on that later), joining an ever-growing list of players to do so this season. Ahead, we look at some of the best goals this season in the Canadian Premier League and the story behind how they were scored.
Tobias Warschewski (FC Edmonton), April 10 vs Valour
In a year of unbelievable Canadian Premier League goals, the standard was set during the opening weekend. FC Edmonton attacker Tobias Warschewski scored a goal that really seemed more dream than reality: a bicycle kick equalizer in stoppage time during a 1-1 draw with Valour FC.
“Everybody was thinking in this situation that the play is done, the ball will go out and they have a goalkick,” he said. “But CJ [Smith] kept the ball in and Wesley [Timoteo] kept it in also and did the cross. In this moment when the ball is coming I know my body positioning was not so good in this moment. But when I saw the ball and I got it to my quad, [I thought] ‘let me try something’, you know? This was my opinion, it was the 94th minute and yeah, when I see it again it is crazy.”
It takes incredible skill and confidence to even attempt something like Warschewski did. But often it takes inspiration as well. The FC Edmonton man was invoking one of the game’s all-time greats when he attempted the ambitious overhead kick.
“My favourite goal is from Ronaldinho, when he [controlled] with his chest and do directly a bicycle,” he said. “In this moment, I tried it too. The goal, top corner, it was lucky a little bit I’d say.”
He had scored a bicycle kick in Germany before, but said this one was hard to top. The moment was especially meaningful for Warschewski because of what it signalled to all of those who doubted him and his FC Edmonton teammates this year.
“For me, goal of the season,” said the man who crossed him the ball on the goal, Timoteo, “He does that pretty often, we see it in training. But you guys saw it in the game, so it was a great moment, and what a way to start the season, right?”
It wasn’t just the quality of the goal that was important, but for a young Edmonton side that had just gone through a tumultuous preseason, it was a beacon of hope for the season ahead.
“What everybody was saying about us this year, like you won’t [win] anything,” said Warschewski. “To start the season like that, and to show everyone that we can compete. I think this was a special moment and we showed everybody in the league not to think this is an easy three points. We have a very good team, very good potential in this group.”
Sean Rea (Valour FC), May 28 vs Pacific
Like his Valour teammate, De Brienne, Rea unquestionably has a knack for scoring special goals. He has scored a few this season that would likely be worthy of this list, but it was a long-range chip against Pacific at Starlight Stadium that truly caught the eye.
“It just ends up in my path at the top of our box, so I control it with like the knee, put it in my run and I just start running,” said Rea. “Nobody is coming in front of me, nobody is trying to block me so in my mind I’m like I’m going to go as far as I can and see where I get. So I keep going, I keep going and I start feeling dos Santos catching me. Then I see Irving really out of his net, so I take a look and I’m like ‘wait did I see that right’, I look up again and I just put it right over him and it went in clean.”
On a goal like that, he says, timing is everything.
“It is really important to make that decision quick, and go with your gut. If you feel it is the right decision, you make it and then if it doesn’t work you move on to the next one, but in my case it worked.”
It was an ambitious effort from Rea, one that requires bravery to even attempt. But that confidence has proven to be a big part of the 20-year-old’s game, as could also be seen on a stunning game winner he scored against York United that same month.
“It is part of the fun of soccer,” he said of trying to score goals like this. “Because you get in these situations where you can score a great goal and you want to score these goals in your career and as a young player you see all these goals all over the World and you want to score these type of goals. So when you get an opportunity where you can score like that, I would take the chance.”
Part of the fun of scoring a goal like that too? The crowd reaction, especially when on the road at Starlight Stadium.
“I don’t think the crowd was too happy about that, but I know my teammates were looking at me like ‘what the hell just happened,” he said mimicking the hands-to-head disbelief of teammate Diego Gutierrez. “It was pretty cool to see my team meats reaction.”
Woobens Pacius (Forge FC), July 23 vs Valour
During the month of July, Forge striker Woobens Pacius went on an incredible run of goalscoring form. He would score six goals in six games, including the fifth hattrick in CPL history against FC Edmonton on July 19.
But it was a goal he scored four days later against Valour that was the true standout of his body of work that month.
After a cross attempt from David Choinière was cut out by Valour defender Rocco Romeo, Pacius tracked the ball down in the box. He let the ball bounce once, and then turned on it and half-volleyed a stunning strike into the Valour net.
“I think I was a little bit surprised like everyone in the stadium,” said Pacius with a chuckle. “Sometimes you just see the ball and you go with instinct, and I think on this goal I just shoot.”
Making the goal all the more impressive is the fact that, like N’sa’s it was hit with his weaker left foot. Having the ability to finish chances with both feet is something Pacius has put a lot of work into over the past few seasons.
“It is important, especially for a striker to be able to score with any part of your body,” said Pacius. “If it is a right foot, left foot, header, with the chest, you just have to be able to score. It is not something that I was born with, of course like people said I might be good at scoring goals but it is about working. We train every day, especially for a striker, finishing, right foot, left foot, same for headers.”
Technique is one thing, but confidence on a goal like this is also critical and a big part of any attacker’s game when they are at their very best.
“[When I am confident] I feel like I am not scared when I am in front of the goal,” said Pacius. “I keep my composure, and I can put the ball in the goal.”
Chrisnovic N’sa (York United), August 20 vs Forge
All year, Chrisnovic N’sa had been working on the same shot, cutting in from the right flank and striking the ball with his weaker left foot.
That included the day prior to a 905 derby match against Forge back on August 20. N’sa wasn’t having much luck with his left-footed attempts at training that day, much to the bemusement of his teammates, especially Jordan Wilson and Isaiah Johnston.
“It has been a long time, I have been working on that shot in training, since last year even,” said N’sa. “Jordan, most of the time he motivates me, like ‘keep doing it, and one day you are gonna score with that one’. Isaiah, he didn’t believe in me.”
A day later, N’sa found himself with the perfect opportunity to turn his practice into perfection. Cutting in from the right against Forge, he unleashed a stunning strike that would stand as the match winner.
“Ronan [Kratt] had just passed me the ball, I was just like in my favourite position that I’ve always been when I’m a fullback. At this moment I was just like ‘let’s take a shot’. So I went and put the ball on my left foot to take a shot, and I saw that Tristan Borges was there and about to block the shot. So I just did a fake shot, to try to see if he is going to tackle or stay on his feet. So I see him tackle, so I knew it was the perfect time for me to push the ball. After that I just didn’t think, I just hit the ball. I shot the ball and I didn’t look at the ball going in the net, I just turn around and I look at Jordan, and Jordan was like ‘you just scored!’ and he was just looking at me I was like ‘really!?’ and he just said ‘come on let’s celebrate’.”
The first part of his celebration? An ‘I told you so’ moment.
“When it happened, I came straight to [Isaiah] and he came straight to me and he was like ‘there’s no way you just did that’,”. And we were just laughing at each other it was a good moment.”
Then, he walked, arms swinging, in a style reminiscent of a certain French international, but with a unique flavour.
“My celebration is like [Samuel] Umtiti’s celebration, but it is really my one, the Chrisno celebration,” he said. “Because I did that one when I was in high school, I used to do that, and I didn’t know that Umtiti was doing it also. So that was my first celebration and I saw Umtiti did it at the World Cup, a bit different but he still did it.”
Watching York United closely this season, N’sa’s influence on his team’s unique and creative celebrations is evident. He has been a big part of a resurgent second half of the season at York Lion’s Stadium.
Matteo De Brienne (Valour FC), August 31 vs Forge
Valour attacker Mateo De Brienne is not new to having goals go viral.
Last season, playing for Carleton University, De Brienne scored a worldie against York University that made the rounds on Canadian soccer social media.
A year later, he traded the nation’s capital for Winnipeg and scored one of the Canadian Premier League’s goals of the season with an overhead kick against Forge FC on the last day of August.
What made the goal even more stunning was its importance, it helped Valour win the first of a back-to-back against Forge which was critical to them getting back into the playoff picture. De Brienne says that practicing volleys and finishing like this consistently in training allows him to do it mindlessly in matches when the moment presents itself.
“For the whole game [Rezart] Rama was kind of man-marking me, so I could already tell that anywhere I go he was going to follow,” he said of his goal. “So I took my run near-post, and as the ball got clipped, I can tell it was overhit a little bit which ended up catching Rama off guard. And I said ‘okay, well let’s go for it’ and I don’t know. It is kind of like my body took over and my foot ended up over my head and I managed to connect on it.”
Adding to the brilliance of the goal was the celebration that came thereafter. De Brienne landed an impressive front-flip before running and mounting the advertising boards. Thankfully, the front flip came off clean, but the second part didn’t quite go to plan.
“There are just weird moments where I’m in my room and I just picture me scoring a goal in a game and I always just picture these celebrations in the back of my head,” said De Brienne. “I thought, aw maybe the boards are actually pretty stable because compared to the plastic ones on the side, I thought surely these ones just stay up. I managed to get myself up on top and then all of the sudden I started titling backwards and I was like ‘aw crap’ and then luckily I was able to get myself off of it and then sell it.”
All footage courtesy of Onesoccer