Final Score: Cavalry FC 2-2 York United
Goalscorers: Warschewski 24′, Shaw 72′; Ricci 62′, Wright 68′
Game of the 2024 season: 22
CPL match: 506

Match in a minute or less

Cavalry FC and York United couldn’t be separated on Saturday evening at ATCO Field as a chaotic second half finished in a 2-2 draw.

After Cavalry took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break off a Tobias Warschewski penalty, Austin Ricci and Brian Wright scored just five minutes apart to give York the lead off of two Cavalry giveaways in their own half.

Just four minutes later Cavalry equalized as Malcolm Shaw’s fourth headed effort of the match found the back of the net to tie it at two apiece.

The second half saw 45′ minutes of back-and-forth soccer with York’s Thomas Vincensini being the more worked of the two goalkeepers, but the match ultimately ended with the points shared.

Three Observations

York continue to create comeback scenarios for themselves

After their trip to ATCO Field, York United still remain without a goal in the first 45′ minutes of any match so far this season and against Cavalry nearly suffered the consequences as they trailed 1-0 going into the halftime break. York entered halftime against Cavalry with just one shot attempt, none that caused Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci any concern.

Aside from that one attempt towards goal, York spent the majority of the first half defending, struggling to enter their opponents’ final third, something that’s become somewhat of a habit in recent matches for the Nine Stripes.

Below is a chart that shows just how little of the first half was spent in Cavalry’s defensive third.

York’s difficulties in the first half of play are ones that head coach Martin Nash is well aware of but not ones he feels he can confidently explain.

“It’s something I’m well aware of to be honest, but for whatever reason we’re starting games like we’re in it but we’re not at it and there’s a difference,” said Martin Nash. “We’re having great second halves but you can’t just be a one-half team and expect to win a lot of games in this league … I don’t know what it is but we have to find a way to be better in the first half.”

Second-half goalscorer Austin Ricci also commented on his side’s slow starts.

“I don’t know what it is but hopefully it’s something that we can change quick,” said Ricci. “It was a good reaction in the second half but we seem to be getting ourselves in the first half that we have to keep digging out of.”

Cavalry’s brief lapse of concentration was enough to cost them two points

The first half was a near-perfect one from Cavalry FC as they only allowed one shot attempt from York United and kept them out of their defensive third as seen above.

Having taken a lead into the break, it seemed as though Cavalry had the chance to coast to three points if they did what they had done in the first 45′ minutes.

However – with all credit to York United’s effort – the second half did not play out as Cavalry manager Tommy Wheeldon Jr. had probably planned.

Cavalry were put on the back foot at times in the second half and were not helped by their own lapses that could be to blame for both of York’s two goals. Their first goal – while great play between York’s Brian Wright and Austin Ricci – was started due to Cavalry losing possession in their own half allowing a quick and lethal counterattack.

The second goal was the result of an errant ball across the backline from Lucas Dias that was capitalized on by Brian Wright who turned and finished past Marco Carducci.

“Especially when we were switching the play we were finding the gaps but we needed to do it quicker, ball speed was important for us,” said Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “If we’d have done it first and second half, the result would’ve been different but we didn’t and we adapted.”

Cavalry still looked strong in possession for the large majority of the 90 minutes – especially when going forward – as they finished with 192 passes in the opposition’s half, 107 of which came in York’s final third.

A battle of resilience makes for an over-the-top exciting second half

On paper, it only made sense for the second half of this match to unravel the way it did. A York United side that has made a name for itself out of fighting their way back into matches in the second half going up against a Cavalry FC side that, simply put, refuses to lose.

This is the second match in a row for York United where they have gone down a goal to enter the halftime break and responded with two goals scored less than ten minutes apart. The timing of the goals may just be a matter of coincidence, but the strong ability to fight back out of seemingly nowhere is significant.

In York’s last contest, they were stunned early by a Dante Campbell header that gave Valour FC an early one-goal lead. But in a similar way to Saturday’s match, York were able to tie the game up and in the blink of an eye take the lead through a Brian Wright finish.

As Ricci pointed out above, York’s resilience and reaction in the second half was and has been enough to secure points for his side but, against a team like Cavalry, just playing 45 minutes isn’t enough.

Cavalry who now hold a 1-4-1 record – similar to their 2023 start of 1-5-0 – appear to once again be a team that the CPL’s seven other sides will struggle to get more than an individual point out of. Even when it appeared the game was closing in on them and they went behind 2-1, it took a mere four minutes for Wheeldon Jr.’s side to regain a hold on it through a smart Malcolm Shaw header.

This ‘bend don’t break’ mindset is one that Cavalry head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. believes has always been there and comes down to spirit.

“In the second half, York gave it to us and we probably could’ve folded the tent,” said Wheeldon Jr. “I think just the spirit of this group is ‘if you’re not gonna win, you’ll refuse to lose’, we don’t get beat often and we especially don’t get beat often at home, that’s what you’ll begin to learn about us, we’ve got ‘cojones'”.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Thomas Vincensini, York United

In a game where each team scores twice, it’s not always the goalkeeper you think of to win player of the match, but Thomas Vincensini shut the door for York United today. Vincensini made five saves – all of which came with a high level of difficulty – to keep his side level and looked comfortable with the ball at his feet, making 22 accurate passes from goal.

What’s next?

Cavalry FC now travel farther west to meet Vancouver Whitecaps for the second leg of their Canadian Championship draw. Their next CPL match is five days later back home at ATCO Field when they welcome Valour FC (3:00 p.m. MDT, 5:oo p.m. ET). York United have just less than a week to rest as they head back home to Toronto for a Friday, May 24 matchup with Halifax Wanderers FC (7:00 p.m. ET).

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