Forge FC continue to inch toward the CPL Shield as the Canadian Premier League’s regular season champion, currently sitting top of the table by five points with just four matches left in the season.

The four-time playoff champion Hammers have been dominant through the league’s first five seasons, but have not won the Shield since it was introduced in 2022. A lot of the club’s success has been due to their consistency year-over-year in attracting, and holding on to, some of the top players in Canada. It’s a newcomer to the club this season — Czech-born Canadian goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat — who is one of the players front and centre in their push for more silverware in 2024.

Koleilat has taken over the starting job from Christopher Kalongo in the past two months, playing in seven of the club’s last eight matches in all competitions. Before that he made sporadic starts as Kalongo, who was the backup to Triston Henry over the past few years, saw a big chunk of the action between the sticks.

The club’s recent form has been excellent, going 4-1-1 in the last six league matches Koleilat has started, and winning the game Kalongo started in between as well. In total the club has gone 6-4-1 in the eleven league games Koleilat has played this season.

As they chase the regular season title, head coach Bobby Smyrniotis has opted to go with the hot hand, but it remains to be seen if he will continue to flip between the two at all going forward. Whoever gets the nod each week, Koleilat is confident that they will get the job done thanks to the strong, but friendly, competition between the two goalkeepers.

“It’s a privilege for our team to have that,” Koleilat said to CanPL.ca. “Most teams usually have that dominant number one that just plays every single week. The quality we both have, I think, is huge for the club, and the season we’re both having is quite exceptional. I don’t think in the CPL it’s ever been seen something like this, where two of us are consistently exchanging games, exchanging minutes, and for us to be in this spot in the league on the table. It just goes to show that both of us play a crucial part in the in the team, and it’s something that we both know, and we both carry into training.

“The competition between us is always really good, really fun, and even until this week, even the final stretch, the attitude we carry towards each other is filled with respect, and we try to have fun with it in training, knowing that we’re two of the best goalkeepers in the league playing for one team.”

Most teams would probably prefer to have a defined starter for the playoffs, though, so they know what to expect in the most important games of the season. Despite playing more often than not over the past couple of months, Koleilat isn’t ready to declare himself the playoff starter.

“That’s a question you have to leave for the coach,” he said with a smile. “I know that whoever plays, we’re going to give it our all, and if I’m not the one that’s playing, then I know I’m going to do the best to get Chris in that mindset. If I’m the one playing, I know he’ll do the same.”

Forge are not only going for one trophy, though. The CPL Shield is front of mind because that is first up on the schedule, but the Hammers want to be the first club to win both the Shield and the North Star Cup in the same campaign.

The twice-reigning playoff champions (in addition to their 2019 and 2020 titles) know that the playoffs are where they have historically shined the brightest, with it being floated around by some members of the media every year that the playoffs are “Forge season”. They want to continue that trend and host the CPL Final once again, and better yet win it.

Forge do not want to win trophies, they expect to win trophies.

“The winning culture is definitely engraved here,” said Koleilat. “Even in training, it’s whenever guys lose, whether it’s a 50-50 tackle or a small sided game, or we’re counting the shooting drills, all these things, everyone just wants to win. It just goes to show that when we step on the field on the weekend, even though we’re all competing against each other on the training ground, once we’re all on the same pitch, in the same colors, and we’re facing another team, we have that extra motivation to just look at the guy next to you and just go ‘Alright, I’m competing against this guy every week, now to have him on my side is a good feeling’.

“That confidence between each other is huge for us.”

Koleilat won’t let himself think too far ahead, though. The most important match is always the next one, a lesson he says he learned after being disappointed by missing out on a national NCAA championship while playing for the University of New Hampshire.

Forge has also had experiences this season unlike most other CPL clubs. They (and Cavalry FC) played in the Concacaf Champions Cup earlier this season, and while they were unable to advance from the first round against regional powerhouse Chivas Guadalajara, they gained even more experience playing in high-pressure matches and environments — something they’ve done a lot of over the past six years.

The Hammers also went on a deep run in the Canadian Championship. After advancing past York United, they beat CF Montreal at Stade Saputo to advance to the semifinals, where they beat Toronto FC in the first leg in Hamilton before being eliminated on away goals after losing at BMO Field.

Having these intense matches against strong sides has prepared them well mentally for any test that might come their way in the rest of the regular season or the playoffs.

“It definitely gives us an advantage in the on the pressure side of things,” Koleilat said of the club’s big game experience. “When you’re playing these so called bigger teams, we like to think we’re right up there with them, even though in the world of football, some people may think not. Once you’re on the field for 90 minutes, you kind of get that feeling that everything’s on the same level, you still have a chance to win those games.

“Going into the playoffs, I think those games were huge lessons for us, knowing that we can face, on paper, bigger opponents and put up a fight just as big as any other team, and that’s something that’s huge for us, knowing that we can carry that confidence into the playoffs.”

Forge’s pursuit of the CPL Shield continues on Saturday afternoon, when they host York United in a crucial match for both clubs. Forge can put one hand on the trophy with a win, especially if Atlético Ottawa or Cavalry drop points in their matches this weekend, while York are looking to solidify their spot in the top four to ensure that they will host a playoff game for the first time in club history.

The fact that it’s a 905 Derby, and that York haven’t picked up three points against their local rivals in well over a year, will also be factors in a huge match at Tim Hortons Field.

“It’s a good opportunity for us, we’re up for it, we’re excited,” Koleilat said of that game. “Obviously a derby game in the league, they’re going to be up for it as well, so we’re hoping to play some good football and collect the three points so we can further our lead and just keep our eyes on the prize, one game at a time.

“Just like Bobby says. It’s another one we need to play and another one we need to win.”