It’s playoff season in the Canadian Premier League and the top five finishers from the regular season are set to battle for the North Star Cup.
Starting on Wednesday, Oct. 23 and culminating in the CPL Final on Nov. 9, the CanPL.ca staff preview each team’s postseason hopes. Find all team previews by clicking here.
The Story
Forge FC — 1st place, 50 points
Record (W-D-L): 15-5-8
Goals For/Against: 45/31
Top Scorer: Tristan Borges, Kwasi Poku (8)
Assists Leader: Kyle Bekker, Tristan Borges (6)
Forge were the best team in the Canadian Premier League this year, waltzing to the regular season title thanks largely to a 10-match run in late summer and early fall where they won eight out of 10 games. They clinched the CPL Shield in Winnipeg on Oct. 6, having climbed into first place in matchweek 19 and not relinquishing their hold on the top spot.
The Hammers have been extremely consistent at both ends of the pitch, leading the league in goals scored with 45 while also tying with Atlético Ottawa for second place in goals conceded (31).
One of the most impressive things about Forge this year was how they adapted multiple times to remain at a high standard. Due to several key injuries at the striker position early in the season, head coach Bobby Smyrniotis chose to convert wingback Kwasi Poku into a centre-forward. Poku went on to score 10 goals in a 14-game stretch and earned the attention of multiple European clubs; he moved to Belgian side RWD Molenbeek in a CPL-record transfer and has since made his first Canadian men’s national team appearance.
Forge didn’t miss a beat after losing their leading scorer, though; they scored 14 goals in the 11 CPL matches they played without Poku, winning seven of them.
Now, the Hammers go into a sixth straight postseason looking to win their fifth championship — and their third in a row. They’ve already secured a Concacaf Champions Cup spot by winning the regular season title, but they have their sights set on being the first ever team to win the CPL double.
The Stats
34 points at home
Forge set a new club record this year with an 11-1-2 record at Tim Hortons Field, after struggling a little at home in 2023. They’ve been almost unbeatable in Hamilton this season. Vancouver FC were the only visiting side to go undefeated at Tim Hortons Field this year with a win and a draw, and the only other blemish on Forge’s home record was a 2-0 loss to Atlético Ottawa in a game that was meaningless for Forge, who had already clinched the title.
Now, as the first-place side, Forge know that the road to the North Star Cup goes through Hamilton. They could win the championship without setting foot outside of their own stadium, if they win the qualifying semi-final and host the CPL Final.
11,224 passes
No team in the CPL successfully completed more passes than Forge this year, and no team was more accurate with their passing than Forge’s 85.52 per cent. The Hamilton club combined quantity and quality in their ball movement this year, setting the tempo in almost every game they played.
7 players with multiple goals and assists
A total of seven players recorded at least two goals and at least two assists this season for Forge, which is more than any other CPL team. Of course, one of those seven — Kwasi Poku — won’t be with the club during the playoffs, but nonetheless it’s a figure that shows just how deep and wide-ranging this team’s talents are. Any of Tristan Borges, Kyle Bekker, David Choinière, or many others could make the difference on any given day.
The Stars
Tristan Borges, Midfielder/Forward
Borges has been the most impactful attacking piece for Forge this year, contributing an outstanding eight goals and six assists. He could line up anywhere from central midfield to either wing of a front three, but has done a lot of his best work this season in a number 10 role, often favouring one side of the pitch with Kyle Bekker in the other.
This has been Borges’ best year for Forge since 2019, when he was the league’s runaway Golden Boot winner and Player of the Year. He’s exceptionally dangerous from set-pieces in particular — look no further than the Olimpico he scored in extra time of last year’s CPL Final to win Forge the championship.
Kyle Bekker, Midfielder
At the age of 34, the Forge captain remains one of the absolute best players in the Canadian Premier League. He’s fundamental to the team’s build-up and attacking play, and he has impeccable chemistry with every one of his teammates. Forge have managed Bekker’s minutes a little more this season, which should mean he’s fresh for the playoffs.
Bekker tied with Borges for the team lead in assists with six, and he created the sixth-most chances in the CPL with 36. He’s one of the best creative players in the league and should be a primary focus for any opponent in the postseason.
Alessandro Hojabrpour
Hojabrpour goes into these playoffs hoping to win a fourth consecutive CPL championship, after winning with Pacific in 2021 and then the following two years with Forge. This year, he took another step forward and established himself as perhaps the best holding midfielder in the league.
He typically occupies the space just in front of Forge’s backline and helps connect to Bekker and Borges in front of him. Hojabrpour makes life very difficult for opposing midfields, often recovering the ball and quickly moving it forward. He’s also always a threat to take a crack at goal from distance; plus, he’s scored the winning goal in two CPL Finals.
The Soundbites
“You need to be sharp, or else every team can beat any team in this league, it doesn’t matter where you are in the standings. Now we get prepared; we play each other enough in the season, we know what it is, and you throw out what you’ve done in the last two games, five games, it all doesn’t matter. These are one-game situations, and we obviously have a lot of experience in that and we prepare like that. … Anything other than being a champion is a disappointment. I think for every other team in this league, you’re striving to do that; we’ve set the standard for ourselves, and that drives you as you keep on going forward, it drives you to be part of Concacaf, to be part of these competitions. You know the minimum is trophies.”
— Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis
“It’s consistency in what we’re doing. In the players we bring in, there’s a good philosophy behind everything. We have the determination, and we don’t look back — we don’t look at last year and say, ‘We’re good in playoffs.’ Every year is a new thing, we can’t look to history and think we’re going to proceed because of history. We just take this as something completely new because it is completely new, our team’s not the same as last year or the year before. … When we go in with the right energy and determination in playoff football, we’re a very, very good team.”
— Forge FC defender Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson
The Scenario
It’s not difficult at all to imagine Forge lifting another trophy at the end of this year; they’ve done it in four out of five previous CPL campaigns, and they look stronger than ever this time around.
Forge’s playoff quest begins on Sunday, Oct. 27 at Tim Hortons Field. They’ll host second-place side Cavalry FC in the qualifying semi-final, the winner of which goes directly to host the CPL Final on Nov. 9. If Forge don’t win that game, they’ll still have a chance to get to the Final — they’d host another semi-final in Hamilton the following weekend.
Fortunately for the Hammers, they have an outstanding record at home in the postseason. They have played five games at Tim Hortons Field and won four, outscoring their opponents 8-4 in the process. Their only blemish is the 2021 Final, which Forge lost 1-0 to Pacific FC.
Their first challenger this year, Cavalry, is a team with whom Forge are incredibly familiar. These sides have met seven times in the playoffs, and Forge have won all but one — the first leg of the 2022 semi-final, which was a 1-1 draw in Calgary.
