Final Score: Halifax Wanderers FC 2-2 CS Saint-Laurent (3-5 on pens.)
Goalscorers: Nimick 29′ (pen.), Telfer 83′; Kane 32′ (pen.), Kwemi 65′
2024 TELUS Canadian Championship — Preliminary Round
Match in a minute or less
Ligue1 Québec champions CS Saint-Laurent made history at the Wanderers Grounds on Thursday night, as they defeated Canadian Premier League club Halifax Wanderers FC in a penalty shootout to advance to the quarter-finals and secure a matchup with Toronto FC.
Though heavily tested early, the Wanderers took the lead just before the half-hour mark as Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé was pulled down in the box to win a penalty. Daniel Nimick slotted it coolly, as usual, to make it 1-0. Just moments later, however, Halifax conceded a spot kick of their own, as goalkeeper Yann Fillion was judged to have mistimed his attempt on the ball and brought the attacker down. Saint-Laurent (and former Vancouver FC) striker Mouhamadou Kane smashed his own penalty in to level the tie as they went into halftime at 1-1.
After a cagey stretch to begin the second half, the Quebecois side stunned Halifax by taking a lead at the 65-minute mark. Saint-Laurent played a corner routine to the top of the box, where Loïc Kwemi’s shot took a deflection and beat Fillion to land in the goal. The Wanderers found their equalizer late in the evening, though; in the 83rd minute a corner came into the box and found Ryan Telfer, who managed to knock it back toward goal and in to score.
The match, therefore, went to penalties, where Saint-Laurent’s players made no mistake, scoring all five attempts from the spot. Halifax striker Christian Volesky was the only player to miss, as the Quebecois semi-pro side prevailed over a CPL team for the first time in the history of either league.
Three Observations
CS Saint-Laurent make history with ‘cupset’, book dream date with Toronto FC
Since Ligue1 Québec (formerly Première ligue de soccer du Québec) teams were first introduced to the Canadian Championship in 2018, they had played nine games before Thursday night. In those nine, they’d scored four goals, and the only two matches the league had won were their two legs against League1 Ontario side Oakville Blue Devils in 2018. No L1QC side had ever eliminated a Canadian Premier League team.
Until now, that is.
This wasn’t the first time Halifax have had trouble with League1 opposition before; they needed the away goals rule to dispatch Vaughan Azzurri in 2019 and lost to them in the home leg, and in 2021 it was a 72nd-minute penalty kick that put them past AS Blainville.
The game was every bit the scrap that Patrice Gheisar had expected, and perhaps even more.
It might have required penalties, but CS Saint-Laurent were unquestionably deserving winners on Thursday night in Halifax, shutting down the Wanderers’ best players and hanging in defensively right to the end.
In the shootout, Saint-Laurent’s five penalty takers were all composed and deliberate in their approach, and although there were one or two that Yann Fillion will feel he could’ve saved, to go five for five is an impressive feat in any circumstance.
As Saint-Laurent coach Nicholas Razzaghi sat in his postmatch press conference, it was near impossible to hear his comments in such close proximity to his players’ raucous celebrating in the dressing room next door. Still, the coach’s intense pride in his players came through.
“You can tell by the noise next door, it’s something special for all of us,” he said. “It’s something we’ve had our eyes on for about two years. To come in here in our first try and get it done, we told ourselves however we get it done, it doesn’t matter — whatever we’ve got to do, just get the win. We’re all super, super proud of the guys.”
Saint-Laurent intensity, quality evident in impressive showing
Halifax coach Patrice Gheisar was clear before this game that he knew CS Saint-Laurent would be a serious challenge for his side. They were comfortably the best team in Ligue1 Québec in 2023 (and scored seven goals last weekend in their second game of 2024), and as many as 11 of their players have been at least on trial at some point with Canadian Premier League sides in the last few years.
With multiple players from the Canadian national futsal team, as well — Safwane Mlah, Loïc Kwemi and Obeng Tabi among their starters on Thursday — this was always going to be a team with serious technical quality.
That’s why it wasn’t necessarily surprising to see the semi-pro side play an even first half against CPL opposition. The expected goals were level at 1.22 apiece from the first 45 minutes with each side scoring a penalty, and although Halifax had much more possession (67.4 per cent), Saint-Laurent looked much more decisive and direct going forward when they did have the ball. In that first half, all 12 of Saint-Laurent’s final third entries resulted in a touch in the penalty area, which underlines just how deliberate they were in running straight toward goal with the ball.
The story was much the same in the second half, too; the shots were seven to six for Halifax, both sides had 13 touches in the box, and there was absolutely nothing to indicate one side was fully professional and the other wasn’t.
One of the key messages from Saint-Laurent coach Razzaghi postmatch was how much talent there is in Quebec. Many of the players on his team have played professionally at some point, but haven’t had the opportunity to establish themselves at that level.
“The reality is, I don’t think people understand how difficult it is to prepare for these kinds of games,” Razzaghi said. “It’s not just conditions, it’s bigger fields, crowds at games, lack of experience playing at this level. In the winter we played York United in a preseason game and got killed. They’re good, but we also just didn’t have any reference points.
“If we put it in context, take the best players of semi-pro leagues, put them in a higher level, there’s so much that can happen”
Now, after this performance — with two games against Toronto FC to come — Razzaghi is hopeful many of his stars from this game have caught the attention of professional sides from across the country.
Halifax attack continues to struggle in major cup disappointment
In their first three games of the Canadian Premier League season, the Halifax Wanderers scored just one goal — and that was a consolation marker in a 3-1 loss on Saturday to Atlético Ottawa. At times, it has certainly looked like the club was missing some sharpness and execution in the final third; they’ve had no problem getting the ball into that area, but once they’ve been there they haven’t often been able to move it to the foot or head of a player in position for a high-quality shot.
They’ll be frustrated that the same was true in this game, despite playing a side at ostensibly a lower level than them.
“I think in the end it just comes down to the fight out there,” Wanderers defender Dan Nimick said postmatch. “We know they’re not better players than us, they just wanted it more. End of the day, that’s what wins football matches. You can be as technical as you want, as good a player as you want, but if the other team wants it more than you they’re going to win the game.”
Halifax had a massive advantage in possession and took control of the centre of the park for the most part, but with four natural central midfielders — Gagnon-Laparé, Callegari, Probo and Daniels — playing together in a box, they seemed not to have enough players forward to run onto through balls or get in behind.
They had 50 final third entries but just 24 touches in the box, while Saint-Laurent had 31 and 25, respectively. Halifax, as they have in other games this year, were very comfortable on the ball for the most part, and progressed it up the pitch with patience, but once they got into the business end they seemed not to be able to find their centre-forward often enough.
After falling behind, Patrice Gheisar addressed the issue, bringing Christian Volesky on for Probo, and having also added Massimo Ferrin to the mix shortly before, the Wanderers covered the area of the pitch better, seeming to get more runners into dangerous areas.
Ultimately, Halifax did break through from a set-piece with a goal that might not have been the prettiest, but equalized at a late stage. It could’ve been the moment that, much like with Pacific FC’s equalizer against TSS Rovers, might have demoralized the opponent just before a penalty shootout. Indeed, that goal — had it been followed by a shootout win — could have even been the turning point of the Wanderers’ season so far, getting them a result they desperately needed after three league defeats.
Instead though, the Wanderers now have an extended period of time off — their next game isn’t until May 11 at home — where they have no choice but to regroup and assess how their campaign has begun.
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Oussama Boughanmi (CS Saint-Laurent)
The Tunisian-born midfielder was all over the park on Thursday, with a team-high 92 touches. He created two chances, made 55 successful passes (85.9 per cent accuracy), won six of his eight duels, made three tackles and had an astonishing six clearances. Plus, Boughanmi scored the third penalty in the shootout.
Box Score
Lineups
Halifax Wanderers FC: Fillion; Fernandez, Nimick (c), Loughrey, Timoteo, Ferrazzo (Ferrin 62′); Probo (Volesky 68′), Callegari, Gagnon-Laparé (Dunn 83′), Daniels (Rampersad 84′); Telfer
CS Saint-Laurent: Maniatis; Alphonse, Goulet, Tabi (Sakande 85′); Wandje (c), Boughanmi, Mlah, Bey (Sylla 81′); Toualy (Aristilde 62′), Kwemi, Kane
Goals
29′ — Daniel Nimick (Halifax Wanderers) (Penalty)
32′ — Mouhamadou Kane (CS Saint-Laurent) (Penalty)
65′ — Loïc Kwemi (CS Saint-Laurent)
83′ — Ryan Telfer (Halifax Wanderers)
Discipline
11′ — Yellow: Lorenzo Callegari (Halifax Wanderers)
32′ — Yellow: Cale Loughrey (Halifax Wanderers)
45+4′ — Yellow: Oussama Boughanmi (CS Saint-Laurent)
76′ — Yellow: Safwane Mlah (CS Saint-Laurent)
86′ — Yellow: Mouhamadou Kane (CS Saint-Laurent)
Penalty Shootout
- CS Saint-Laurent: Loïc Kwemi (GOAL)
Halifax Wanderers: Daniel Nimick (GOAL) - CS Saint-Laurent: Safwane Mlah (GOAL)
Halifax Wanderers: Lorenzo Callegari (GOAL) - CS Saint-Laurent: Oussama Boughanmi (GOAL)
Halifax Wanderers: Ryan Telfer (GOAL) - CS Saint-Laurent: Abdoul Aziz Sakanda (GOAL)
Halifax Wanderers: Christian Volesky (MISS) - CS Saint-Laurent: Mouhamadou Kane (GOAL)
What’s next?
CS Saint-Laurent will now head to the quarter-finals, where they’ll play Major League Soccer club Toronto FC in a two-legged home-and-away tie. Back in Canadian Premier League action, the Wanderers are home again on Saturday, May 11 when they take on Cavalry FC at home (3 p.m. AT/2 p.m. ET).
Watch all TELUS Canadian Championship 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.