Welcome to As It Stands. At the start of each week through the end of the season, we’ll bring you this easy-to-digest wrap-up of everything you need to know from the weekend that was in the Canadian Premier League, and keep tabs on how each team is progressing in its hunt for silverware.

Well, have you recovered from Monday night’s madness yet?

Matchweek 23 officially concluded in Nova Scotia, with Halifax Wanderers and Atlético Ottawa making up a fixture that had been moved from Saturday afternoon due to Hurricane Lee.

And what a climax it was for another thrilling CPL weekend; if you haven’t yet, go check out the highlights of a bonkers 3-2 win for Halifax at the Wanderers Grounds, featuring a two-goal heel-turn for ex-Wanderer Samuel Salter, followed up by a heroic 93rd-minute combination between Zachary Fernandez and Tomas Giraldo to win it for the home side.

This week had six games, including two midweek contests last week — a 2-1 win for Cavalry FC in Halifax last Tuesday, and a roller coaster 1-1 draw between Ottawa and Pacific FC in the capital on Wednesday.

The weekend itself opened in Calgary, where Cavalry FC stretched their unbeaten run to six, and their home winning streak to five, by beating Vancouver FC. Sunday’s doubleheader featured a back-and-forth comeback win for Forge FC at Valour FC, where both teams surrendered a lead before Béni Badibanga won it with a free kick. Later that afternoon, Pacific FC’s attack steamrolled York United en route to a decisive 4-1 win at York Lions Stadium.

Not much in the order of the table has changed since we last convened in this space, but here’s how things stand on Tuesday:

Something new from last week: a couple more letters. Pacific FC officially clinched a playoff spot on Tuesday night after Halifax’s win. Their 40 points means they can’t possibly be caught by both York and Ottawa, since those two sides play against each other next week.

Unfortunately, expansion side Vancouver FC were officially eliminated with their loss in Calgary, meaning they’ll be left to play spoiler in the final four games. They can begin that on Wednesday night against Valour FC, who managed to remain alive thanks to results elsewhere but would be out if they don’t beat Vancouver.

The other major change in the table is the Wanderers, who leapfrogged Atlético Ottawa by beating them and now taking a three-point lead over the team they defeated Monday — and a four-point cushion within the playoff spots. Crucially, Halifax now have some breathing room in fourth rather than fifth, as they look to lock down a home date in the playoffs.

This weekend, Forge will have a chance to lock up their own playoff spot when they take on Pacific; we’ll have more details on specific clinch and elimination scenarios later this week.

Also: Cavalry could officially clinch the regular season title this weekend. Their magic number is four points, so they’d need a win at York and for Pacific to drop points at Forge, and that would lock it up.

Progress continues to be made toward the U-21 minute threshold; Halifax have some work to do after picking up roughly 55 minutes across two games this week, leaving them with about 500 to pick up from their last three games. Atlético Ottawa crossed the 2,000-minute line on Monday night with a hair under 150 minutes from Tyr Walker and Gabriel Antinoro. Cavalry and Forge both need about 80 minutes per game in their last three, while York require about 131 per game.

Speaking of young players, a shoutout to both Vancouver FC’s TJ Tahid and Forge’s Kevaughn Tavernier, both of whom got called up to Canada’s U-17 national team camp in Brazil this weekend. Congratulations to both, and good luck in São Paulo! They’ll be looking to impress coaching staff in hopes of getting a spot on the Canadian roster for the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia.

Monday Tuesday Reading

If the playoffs started today…

As has been the case for the last few weeks, the first couple of matchups in the playoffs would be the same: Cavalry and Pacific in the one versus two spot, following Halifax Wanderers and Atlético Ottawa in the four versus five play-in.

The only difference in that latter game is, unlike last week, Halifax would have home field in that Wednesday night clash.

Forge would yet again await one of those two in the weekend matchup for a date with the loser of Cavalry versus Pacific.

The Wanderers showed on Monday night how crucial it could be for them to come fourth instead of fifth; if they have to play a midweek night game to open the playoffs, they’ll definitely want it to be at home. A three-point cushion now ahead of Ottawa gives them some considerable leeway in the last few weeks, but the job is far from done.

Breaking down the run-in

The games in hand are gone for the top six (it’s now Valour and Vancouver with one fewer game played — until Wednesday night when they play each other).

Now, the teams most likely to remain in the hunt for playoff spots all have three games left. Thirteen games in total remain on the schedule, six of them between teams in the current top six.

Cavalry would like to have clinched the title before those last two home games, which — as mentioned — they could do if they can beat York and Pacific don’t beat Forge.

Ottawa’s last home game of the regular season will be against Valour this weekend, and they’ll probably feel they have to win if they want to play at TD Place again this year.

And how about York? Their four-game homestand began with two straight decisive losses, to Valour and Pacific. They now have two more, against Cavalry and Ottawa, which they have to make use of to avoid facing a must-win trip to Vancouver on the final day.

Note: games listed in bold are at home; games in italics are away.

York United	Forge FC	Valour FC	Pacific FC	Vancouver FC	Cavalry FC
Valour FC	Vancouver FC	York United	Halifax Wanderers	Forge FC	Atlético Ottawa
Pacific FC	Cavalry FC	Forge FC	Atlético Ottawa	Valour FC	Vancouver FC

Awards Watch

Matteo De Brienne has two goals and two assists in his five games since returning from injury, including one of each against Forge this weekend. At this point, the Valour fullback feels like the definite front-runner for U-21 Canadian Player of the Year, with the main question being who else will join him among the nominees. Jean-Aniel Assi has been excellent lately for Ottawa; it feels like one of Vancouver’s young phenoms deserves consideration too — Anthony White, maybe?

The Player of the Year award is getting harder and harder to predict. Ollie Bassett missed a penalty for Atlético last week against Pacific, but he was probably the best player on the pitch for them in the first half against Halifax, playing a new-look left wing role — until he was subbed off in the 70th minute.

Could this be a year where some of the top-notch defenders in the league get some love for the big award? Daan Klomp has probably been Cavalry’s best player this year, especially recently, and Dan Nimick has been a revelation in Halifax.

Also, the Goalkeeper of the Year award: surely Triston Henry is leading the charge right now. He’s well above the rest of the pack with nine clean sheets, and his four saves against Valour were key to Forge’s win on Sunday.

Coming up next…

Wednesday, Sept. 20

Valour FC vs. Vancouver FC (7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET)

Saturday, Sept. 23

York United vs. Cavalry FC (1 p.m. ET)
Vancouver FC vs. Halifax Wanderers (1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET)
Forge FC vs. Pacific FC (7 p.m. ET)

Sunday, Sept. 24

Atlético Ottawa vs. Valour FC (2 p.m. ET)

(Watch all five games live on OneSoccer)

Photo of the Week

Zachary Fernandez is somewhere in there…

The fullback dragged his team up the field after conceding late to manufacture Halifax’s winning goal in theatrical fashion at the Wanderers Grounds, and his teammates rightly showered him with praise — and, apparently, water.