Final Score: Cavalry FC 2-1 Halifax Wanderers FC
Goalscorers: Warschewski 48′, Montgomery 79′; Probo 53′
Game of the 2024 season: 107
CPL match: 591

Match in a minute or less

In the penultimate weekend of the Canadian Premier League season, the Halifax Wanderers became the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention after a 2-1 loss to Cavalry FC on Saturday night at ATCO Field.

The teams traded goals early in the second half, first through Cavalry’s Tobias Warschewski, before Halifax’s Giorgio Probo equalized in the 53rd minute. After a flurry of chances for both sides, Callum Montgomery won the match for Cavalry with his first Canadian Premier League goal in the 79th minute.

It is a significant victory for Cavalry, who now control their destiny in terms of finishing in second place in the table going into the final weekend of the season. A victory for them against Valour, or dropped points by Atlético Ottawa who host Vancouver FC, means they secure the spot during “The Outcome” next Saturday, October 19.

Three Observations

Despite brave performance in Calgary, Halifax become the first team eliminated from playoff contention

It was clear from the opening whistle that if the Halifax Wanderers were to be eliminated from playoff contention, they were not going to go down without a fight.

Just 28 seconds into the match, they created a good chance for Giorgio Probo at the top of the box, which he narrowly sent over the bar. It was the first of 15 shots that Halifax managed during the match — the second most a visiting team has managed at ATCO Field all season.

Knowing that only a victory would save their season, Halifax, who were missing several key starters including captain Andre Rampersad, striker Ryan Telfer and defender Zach Fernandez, shifted to a 5-3-2 and put in an incredibly brave effort.

Even when Cavalry opened the scoring early in the second half through Tobias Warschewski, they fought back and equalized moments later through Giorgio Probo.

But in the end, when Callum Montgomery scored off a deflected corner kick in the 79th minute it felt like the game was as good as over, with Halifax now needing two goals to save their season.

“That goal really killed us,” said Halifax Wanderers manager Patrice Gheisar. “I felt like we were going to have some magic. You know, I think in three of the past four games we’ve scored in the last five minutes.”

Halifax will be left to bemoan not having done more with the opportunities they created in the opening half, when they seemed to have destabilized Cavalry with their width and lineup changes. With Vitor Dias playing as a left wingback, and Clément Bayiha on the right, Halifax were able to create consistent overloads on the wings that Cavalry struggled to deal with.

“The first half, I thought we were great,” said Halifax defender Dan Nimick. “Created loads of opportunities and were able to keep Cavs in their half for most of the first half. But they adjusted well at half-time, and we weren’t able to match that. They get a goal in transition and a scrappy corner, which sums up the season, really. Just super disappointed that we couldn’t get over the line and make that playoff push.”

The fact that they became the first team eliminated from playoff contention in the 107th of 112 CPL regular season matches shows just how competitive the league has been in 2024. But that will be little solace for a Halifax team who truly believed they deserved to make the playoffs this season, and had the talent to do so.

One of the biggest reasons for their position in the table was their away record. Halifax finished the year with just a paltry six points collected outside of Halifax in 2024 — tying their 2019 group for the fewest in club history. Only FC Edmonton in 2021 have had fewer road points in a single season in league history.

Halifax now have one final match at home to conclude 2024 and will look to send their faithful fans into the offseason with a victory against York United — who also have only pride to play for on the final day of the season having guaranteed a fourth-place finish. But attention will already turn toward figuring out just why such a promising third-place finish in 2023 was followed by a slip below the playoff line in 2024.

Cavalry FC stay in control of second-place destiny, guarantee top-three finish

The big point of emphasis for Cavalry heading into Saturday’s match was to secure a big three points that would keep them in complete control of second place in the CPL table.

Even despite third place Atlético Ottawa picking up three points against Forge earlier in the day, Cavalry go into the final week of the season knowing that a victory on Saturday, October 19 against Valour FC in Winnipeg, or any points dropped by Atlético Ottawa against Vancouver FC that same day, and they finish second.

Finishing in second place is a huge advantage when it comes to playoff positioning, as it means they will travel to Tim Hortons Field to face rivals and regular-season winners Forge in the qualifying semifinal. Win that, and they qualify, and host, the 2024 CPL Final. A loss would mean playing in, and hosting, the semifinal, with a second chance to set up a rematch with Forge in the final.

“It was playoff mentality for both teams [today],” said Cavalry FC defender Callum Montgomery after the victory over Halifax. “I think to be in second and hold our own destiny in our hands is everything. We want to host a final here at Spruce Meadows. We have amazing fans, and we want to reward them for staying with us through this year and every year. So we want to come second and we want to bring a final back to Spruce here.”

The win on Saturday means that Cavalry know that at minimum they will finish in the top three this season, and avoid having to play in the midweek play-in game between the 4th and 5th place finishers. Impressively, the 2023 CPL regular season winners have never finished lower than third in a CPL season.

Cavs take advantage of wide-open Wanderers during a thrilling second half

Cavalry FC came into the half-time break on Saturday incredibly disappointed with a first-half effort where they had been out-chanced and out-possessed by a Halifax side desperate to save their season. With the Wanderers deploying an intriguing back five, with Vitor Dias dropping back as a left wingback to provide more width and quality on the ball, Cavalry had struggled to deal with a rather unexpected tactical approach from their opponents.

“They changed the way they played in terms of their positions,” said Cavalry FC manager Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “We didn’t have our press connected, we were too spread out. So we changed that to allow us some more bodies around the ball which helped with our positional play.”

That shift paid off almost immediately, as the Cavalry press through Shamit Shome picked off a ball in the 48th minute, which went into the path of Tobias Warschewski, who fired home the opening goal. Even after Halifax equalized minutes later through Giorgio Probo, the Cavs just kept coming, taking advantage of openings and a lack of structure for a Wanderers team desperate to take the lead.

Cavalry’s two goals in the half came from nine attempted shots, and 2.49 expected goals during an onslaught of excellent scoring opportunities.

The main beneficiary of this tactical shift was Ali Musse, who in the second half got in behind the advanced Dias with ease. Musse did everything but find the back of the net on the day, hitting the post on one of six shot attempts (0.95 expected goals), and putting two others narrowly wide.

“I think Musse, he’s kicking himself now, because he knows he could have had a hattrick,” said Wheeldon Jr. “but I really enjoyed the way, you know, Tobi scored, and then we show character after to keep going and find a way to win.”

That winner came through Callum Montgomery, who Wheeldon Jr. called an “unlikely hero” after the match, apt given this was his first goal in a Cavalry shirt. He stressed the importance of perhaps unexpected players stepping up and creating key moments like that at this moment in the season.

For the second consecutive game, meanwhile, Warschewski was a difference-maker for Cavalry, as his strike early in the second half gave them the lead. He is now up to ten goals on the season, second behind only Atlético Ottawa’s Rubén del Campo in the league’s Golden Boot race. He was also unlucky to not have been on the scoresheet more than once, having played Sergio Camargo for an excellent chance just minutes into the game, before giving Musse a breakaway in the second half with an inch-perfect ball over the top.

“Tobi is a terrific footballer,” said Wheeldon Jr. “He’s one that if you’re a fan, you want to watch him, because he’s unpredictable, and we freed him up again second half and drifted him out into wide areas and he must be a nightmare to, well, we played against him for two years and he always caused us problems. So terrific that he’s got to double figures. He has more goals in him and he’s getting back into scoring ways at the right time.”

The hope will be, that if Warschewski continues to play like he has over the past few weeks, he can be a game-changer for this Cavalry team in the playoffs.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Tobias Warschewski, Cavalry FC

Warschewski seems intent on making the Canadian Premier League Golden Boot race intriguing heading into the final week of the season — as he scored his tenth of the year to put him one behind Rubén del Campo for the league lead. It was the reward for a dynamic performance which also saw him create two chances, and complete five of six dribbles.

What’s next?

Both Cavalry and Halifax will conclude their seasons simultaneously with the rest of the CPL in The Outcome! presented by TonyBet next Saturday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. Halifax host York United at the Wanderers Grounds, while Cavalry head to Winnipeg to take on Valour at Princess Auto Stadium.

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