Final Score: Cavalry FC 2-1 Valour FC
Goalscorers: Camargo 39′, Smith-Doyle 47′; Ponce 24′
Game of the 2023 season: 105
CPL match: 472

Match in a minute or less

Cavalry FC are now unbeaten in eight straight games, having defeated Valour FC 2-1 at home on Friday night in rainy conditions. Having been crowned regular season champions last weekend, Cavalry didn’t have anything tangible on the line against already-eliminated Valour, but they came back from a goal down to win in front of their fans in Calgary.

Walter Ponce opened the scoring for Valour, jumping on an errant pass from Marco Carducci to round a defender and fire into the net. Not long after, though, Cavalry drew level thanks to Sergio Camargo, who finished sharply in the box after Ali Musse got past his man and drove goalward to set him up.

About a minute after halftime, Cavalry took the lead as 21-year-old Calgary native Gareth Smith-Doyle picked up the ball in midfield and carried into the penalty area himself before taking a low shot off the post and in to make it 2-1 — which would end up the final score as the Cavs picked up another three points.

Three Observations

Professional comeback at home for worthy champions Cavalry

There wasn’t really anything tangible on the line for Cavalry in this game, having already clinched the regular season title last weekend. Nor were Valour FC fighting for much more than pride, having been eliminated from the playoff race already.

However, Tommy Wheeldon Jr. spoke before the match about how his team is constantly setting itself challenges to keep motivation high within their ultra-competitive locker room. Prior to this game, Cavalry had a 1-1-1 record in 2023 against Valour, so Friday’s victory means they’ve won the season series. Cavalry have, therefore, completed the sweep and have a winning record against every other CPL team this year (except for Atlético Ottawa, against whom they’re 2-0-2).

The Cavs want, essentially, to be the top team in the league in as many metrics as possible. They want the most goals scored and the fewest conceded (which they currently have, with 43 and 27 respectively).

After conceding the opening goal fairly early on, it would have been easy for Cavalry to capitulate and see out a technically meaningless loss in unpleasant weather conditions. That’s not what happened though, and they fought very hard after falling behind in the first half to find an equalizer.

“They could have just gone, ‘We’ve already won the league, let’s avoid tackles, let’s avoid getting in too much let’s just run around and get through it,'” Wheeldon said after the game. “They didn’t do that, they kept going and found a way to win, that’s what’s special about this group.”

In his mind, Wheeldon wants his side to play every game with the same kind of ferocity and try to win each one — such is the standard expected in a professional league.

Next Saturday will be the Cavs’ final regular season game and it’ll be against Pacific FC, a team they very well might host again the week after in their first playoff match. It’s unlikely, though, that Cavalry will tone things down for that game.

“What we can do it make sure every game matters, we don’t down tools,” Wheeldon added. “I don’t think that’s right for a professional league. Next week has playoff implications — this one may not but we still played it — next week has playoff implications, and we’re going to put our best foot forward.”

Disjointed, sloppy match in rainy conditions produces transition moments

It was… not exactly the nicest evening in Calgary on Friday, with rain pouring down throughout the match and the temperature dipping into the single digits. As a result, the match was naturally a little sloppy at times, considering how the ball moved different both on the wet grass and in the wind.

“Good game for the fans, no?” Valour head coach Phil Dos Santos said postmatch. “I think when you have a team that comes off a weekend where they won a title we knew that the atmosphere here, the energy would be very high, and for us it was about coming here and trying to match that, try to play a strong game.

“When conditions are like that there’s energy for both teams. I felt we got in the game well, we got that first goal, but we conceded a little bit too early after that and we gave a little bit of that added motivation to the opposition to come at you. You’re playing a good team at home, that’s the reality.”

There was definitely energy in the first half especially, with both sides trying to win the ball high up the pitch — Cavalry won the ball seven times in the final third in the opening 45 minutes. Valour were excellent at breaking up momentum at times, though, with nine tackles in the first half alone.

The visitors had a handful of chances born out of almost nothing thanks to their pressure and quickness to get up the pitch after winning the ball, although they only made use of the one.

Cavalry, meanwhile, were also quite deliberate with their attacking, and Ali Musse in particular was a menace along the right side, dribbling at Jordan Haynes to try and get behind him several times.

“We looked at our data points, and the first 25 minutes we were good — we probably should have been two or three up with the moments we had, and then we give a goal away,” Wheeldon said of his side. “I’ll take blame for that one because I want the boys to play, I wanted to put them in a pressure situation; were they brave enough to keep playing when it matters? And Marco [Carducci] and [Eryk] Kobza and Daan [Klomp], they still were, and they didn’t change after that.”

The wet conditions definitely made the ball move a little unpredictably, but Cavalry may have adjusted a little better, being more familiar with the grass surface at ATCO Field. As a result, their pass accuracy was better (86 to 80 per cent), and they were able to play through traffic a little more fluidly.

Valour show fight with direct attacks, stay competitive after elimination

This has been a frustrating season for Valour FC, who find themselves out of the playoff hunt again. Still, walking into the home of the best team in the league, they managed to steel themselves for a competitive match.

To their credit, Valour have made life difficult for their opponents in their last two matches, both on the road. They took the lead in this one, having entered the match with a deliberate strategy of trying to make use of the conditions. They attempted to force errors, and when they won the ball they were direct in attack, keen to test Marco Carducci — and they ended up with a solid 12 shots, although just two were on target with some of them being fairly ambitious distance efforts.

They were feisty, too, winning 12 tackles and committing 15 fouls in a game where the wet and slippery conditions might have aggravated the physicality somewhat.

Valour have now completed their road schedule for the year, having finished with a 3-4-7 record and 13 points away from home — good for sixth in the league. They’ve proven at times to be a tough out for teams when they go on the road and hit in transition, although they’ve dropped points in disappointing fashion at times as they did on Friday.

Next weekend, the club will be in Winnipeg one last time for 2023, where they’ll host Halifax Wanderers hoping to have an impact on the playoff race above them. For coach Phil Dos Santos, remaining competitive in that game is the absolute priority for him; it’ll be another test of character for the players in his squad.

“The same we’ve been talking about since we can no longer mathematically be in the playoffs,” he said of his message ahead of the last game. “There’s a nature in us which is a competitive one, it doesn’t matter what we play, where we play, I think we always want to win. You look at the game we played last week, the commitment of the guys today, you know this team they’re not going to just play that last game at home and not fully commit to it.

“The message is to keep pushing; a lot of questions are being answered in a process where things are difficult. I think the biggest one is the reality is these moments test the character of the guys, and we get to see who we could count with even in the difficult moments.”

If there was one significant positive for Valour from Friday’s game, it was that club captain Andrew Jean-Baptiste was in the starting XI for a second consecutive week after missing the prior nine matches. The Haitian international has only played eight times this year, with only five starts, as injuries have continuously kept him off the pitch.

After the game, Jean-Baptiste expressed that he was glad to finally be back in the team, but for his return to come so late in the year after Valour have been eliminated makes it a somewhat hollow personal victory.

“Obviously it’s great to be back on the field,” he said. “I’ve fought really hard to get back to where I’m at right now, and still I don’t feel like I’m the player I was the season before, or the one before that, but it’s been quite a roller coaster, just how it’s played out for me. It replicates what this team has gone through as well, just a roller coaster ride of ups and downs.

“It’s been a lot for me. It’s hard to get into it because there’s been a lot. Seeing where my team is at, and how little I played this season, it’s something I have to take home with me and deal with, and go into this off-season trying to figure out what I can do better next time. Because not being a part of everything that happened this year — regardless of whether we win or lose — not being a part of it is what hurts me the most. I just hope that if I had been on the field, maybe results could have gone differently, who knows, but it’s just living in what-if at this point.”

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Sergio Camargo, Cavalry FC

Camargo scored his second goal in as many games for the Cavs, and he was outstanding in this one in an hour of work. He made 17 passes in the final third, and continuously helped propel his side forward in attack, playing a role in creating the first goal before finishing the play himself.

What’s next?

Cavalry’s regular season ends next Saturday, Oct. 7 (5 p.m. MT/7 p.m. ET), when they host Pacific FC before lifting the CPL Shield postmatch as regular season champions. Valour, meanwhile, will wrap up their 2023 campaign on Friday, Oct. 6 at home when Halifax Wanderers visit IG Field (6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET).

Watch all CPL matches live on OneSoccer. In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.