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.
A four-day matchweek 17 in the Canadian Premier League gave us plenty to think about over the long weekend, as three out of four games featured a team beating an opponent above them in the standings. The result? A league table that’s tighter than ever, where the last-place Halifax Wanderers are just four points out of the playoffs, and only 13 off the top — which is the number of points Cavalry FC had over second place when they won the regular season last year. Those Wanderers made up some ground in front of a boisterous Natal Day holiday crowd on Monday, recovering from an early deficit to beat Vancouver FC 3-2. Halifax remain stuck in last place, though, because the day before that, Valour FC remained a thorn in Forge FC’s side, beating the Hamiltonians 2-1 in Winnipeg. On Saturday, league leaders Atlético Ottawa were toppled for the second game in a row, this time by Cavalry FC as second-half substitute Ali Musse returned from injury and scored both goals in a 2-1 win, the second being an 89th-minute screamer. The opening match of the weekend was Friday night’s affair out west, where Pacific FC and York United fought to a 1-1 draw on Vancouver Island with both goals coming in the first 10 minutes — including Brian Wright’s ninth of the season, putting him alone atop the Golden Boot race. Although the table hasn’t really moved this week, the numbers have: 
The league has plenty of interesting storylines shaping up as we head into the last few months of the regular season. The Golden Boot race, for instance, remains fascinating; Brian Wright has the lead with nine goals, but Kwasi Poku and Rubén del Campo are close behind on eight. Tobi Warschewski and Alejandro Díaz also remain in contention at seven apiece. Another factor to watch: the CPL record for goals in a regular season is João Morelli’s 14 in 2021. Wright’s current scoring rate has him on pace for 14.8, so that mark could be set to fall… York United’s rapid ascent up the table has them now just one point back of first place, thanks in part to Atlético Ottawa’s two-game losing streak. Perhaps the CPL Shield race isn’t as over as it might’ve looked. Meanwhile, we saw a few new (and familiar) faces around the CPL over the weekend. Former U-21 Canadian Player of the Year Sean Rea made his CPL return, getting 35 minutes off the bench in his Halifax Wanderers debut. In the same match, Jefferson Alphonse got his first start for Halifax after three bright substitute appearances. Devin O’Hea made his first Pacific FC start, while Lowell Wright got 45 minutes off the bench for Cavalry in his second appearance since signing. Speaking of Cavalry, perhaps the hero of the weekend was Ali Musse. Last year’s Players’ Player of the Year hadn’t made a CPL appearance since May 3, but he came into their game against Ottawa on Saturday and produced both of the goals his side needed for a huge confidence-building win. Also, a shoutout to York United newcomer Jorge Guzmán, who has set a new CPL record with three assists in his first two games. Previously, the fastest time to hit three CPL assists was six matches (a mark shared by Kyle Bekker and Azriel González). Elsewhere around the Canadian soccer landscape, we had a couple of League1 BC championships won this past weekend; Whitecaps FC Girls Elite claimed the women’s playoff crown for a second straight year to complete an unbeaten season and a double with the regular season title. Meanwhile, TSS Rovers won the men’s playoff championship, likewise winning the double. Coming up this weekend is the third annual League1 Canada Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship in Hamilton. Representatives from four provinces — Whitecaps FC from B.C., Calgary Blizzard from League1 Alberta, NDC Ontario from League1 Ontario and CS Mont-Royal Outremont of Ligue1 Québec — will square off for the national title. More details on that competition are here; be sure to either watch on OneSoccer, or if you’re able, get down to Tim Hortons Field in person.
Monday Tuesday Reading
If the playoffs started today…
Although the top three has been static for about a month now, there’s plenty of competition further down the table. Cavalry have been rising quickly and now find themselves on the better side of what’s looking increasingly like a split between two halves of the league table. York United closing down Atlético Ottawa means they’ve got as good a chance as ever of climbing to the top and hosting that first-versus-second game — which could be significant, considering York’s 4-1 win when they hosted Atleti two weeks ago. 
U-21 minutes watch
York United are the second team to cross the 2,000-minute threshold, doing so over the weekend with the help of another 90-minute shift by Noah Abatneh. A few clubs are feeling a little better about their U-21 minutes this week, with Cavalry’s Maël Henry making his second straight start and Jefferson Alphonse making his first. Meanwhile, Vancouver FC managed to bring Matteo Campagna, Tyler Crawford and TJ Tahid all into the game in Halifax on Monday. For the full player-by-player breakdown on the Jones Deslauriers | Navacord U-21 Minute Leaderboard, click here. Here’s how all eight teams are progressing toward the 2,000-minute threshold:
| Club | Total U-21 Minutes |
| Pacific FC | 2,914 |
| York United FC | 2,046 |
| Valour FC | 1,486 |
| Forge FC | 1,434 |
| Vancouver FC | 1,373 |
| Cavalry FC | 1,140 |
| Atlético Ottawa | 918 |
| Halifax Wanderers FC | 522 |
Coming up next…
Saturday, Aug. 10
Cavalry FC vs. Halifax Wanderers FC (2 p.m. MT/4 p.m. ET)
Forge FC vs. Atlético Ottawa (7 p.m. ET)
Sunday, Aug. 11
Vancouver FC vs. Pacific FC (2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET)
Valour FC vs. York United FC (7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET) (Watch all games live on OneSoccer)
Photo of the Week
It was very hard to choose between this and the photo of Andre Rampersad at the top of this page, but we opted to put the one with a player in the thumbnail and just admire this gorgeous piece of photographic art from Matt Zambonin in Ottawa. Thankfully that severe weather pattern cleared up to give us an entertaining match in the capital, as well…
