Final Score: Forge FC 0-1 Atlético Ottawa
Goalscorers: Iliadis 54’
Game of the 2023 season: 111
CPL match: 478
Match in a minute or less
Despite a 1-0 loss to Atlético Ottawa on Saturday night in their season finale, Forge FC finished the 2023 CPL season in second place.
Atleti’s Ilias Iliadis scored the lone goal of the match, his first in the CPL, early in the second half and Atleti held on for their tenth win of the season. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for Atleti who were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday when York United defeated Vancouver FC.
Forge, meanwhile, are headed to the CPL playoffs for a fifth straight season and will open on the road against Cavalry FC on Saturday, October 14 (3:00 p.m. MT / 5:00 p.m. ET). A win in that match and they would put themselves in a fifth straight CPL final, which would be hosted at Tim Hortons Field.
Three Observations
Forge FC to take on rivals Cavalry in 1st vs 2nd match despite loss to Ottawa in season finale
Forge FC lost the battle on Saturday, but ultimately won the war as they accomplished their overall goal on the day of finishing in one of the top two spots.
“Our goal was always to finish as high as possible in the standings, and today we reached it, a little bit tricky with a loss but we achieved what we wanted, we finished second so now we’ve just got to get ready for what’s next,” said Forge FC assistant coach Kyt Selaidopoulos, who was filling in for the suspended Bobby Smyrniotis on Saturday.
Interesting, what’s next is a date with that very same Cavalry FC side. If they win that match they advance directly to the final, which they would host. Should they lose, they get a second chance, playing the winner of the 4th-5th game and 3rd place for a chance to advance to the final, a match which they would play at home.
Also worth noting is the fact that should Cavalry go on to become playoff champions, then Forge FC will be given a Concacaf Champions Cup spot as the CPL’s second-place finishers — a big part of their goal this season. So second place comes with a lot of perks.
Saturday’s loss to Atlético Ottawa, however, was some cause for concern in that area specifically as it wrapped up a disappointing home record for Forge during the 2023 season. They won just four of 14 matches, and combined seven draws, and three losses they ranked fifth in terms of home record.
A big issue for Forge has been consistent scoring at home, as they were shut out for the fourth time this season at Tim Hortons Field. They again created plenty of opportunities for themselves against Ottawa on Saturday, to the tune of 1.9 expected goals and four big chances, but some poor finishing and quality goalkeeping from Atleti’s Nate Ingham held them scoreless.
“I think this has been one of the problems this year, we have created a lot of chances this year but we haven’t managed to [finish them],” said Forge defender Garven Metusala post-match. “We know that next week is going to be a tough game again, we know that we probably aren’t going to see a high score again. Us and Cavalry is always [decided] by one goal. So I think that next week is going to be the team that is the most clinical is going to get the win. So that is what we are going to work on.”
Ollie Bassett wins Golden Boot as Pacius, Campbell unable to find the scoresheet for Forge
The 2023 CPL Golden Boot came down to the final matches of the CPL season, and in the end, Cavalry’s Myer Bevan was the only contender able to find the back of the net, as his 11th goal of the season tied him with Atleti’s Ollie Bassett for the honour.
While Bassett was held scoreless on Saturday, managing just a single shot attempt, he caps off an impressive season, following up his 2022 Player of the Year and Players Player of the Year campaign with 11 goals and three assists.
“Ollie has been giving so much to the team throughout the season,” said Atlético Ottawa manager Carlos González. “I think that he is a very important player for the team and yeah I’m very satisfied that he keeps growing and that he is maintaining consistency in his performances because, at the end of the day, I’ve said it a few times the difference between the top players and good players is consistency, and Ollie has demonstrated that throughout last season and this season he has been giving top performances for the team.”
A couple of Forge FC players, meanwhile, will be bemoaning their inability to share the spoils as well as both Woobens Pacius and Terran Campbell will finish the 2023 CPL season on 10 goals each. Both had their chances to improve on that margin against Ottawa. Pacius, in particular, had a glorious opportunity to score his eleventh of the season in the 71st minute, but couldn’t finish from close range.
Forge FC will need better finishing from the duo over the next few weeks if they are to repeat as the Canadian Premier League’s playoff champions, but both finished the regular season with solid, if not a bit inconsistent, numbers.
Atlético Ottawa give strong showing in season finale, but there will be no playoffs for the 2022 finalists
For the second straight year, Atlético Ottawa’s season ended with a match against Forge FC, but this year the circumstances were immensely different. The 2022 regular season winners, and CPL Playoff finalists missed the playoffs by two points, with their fate sealed on Friday night by a York United victory as the Nine Stripes clinched the fifth and final playoff spot.
With nothing but pride to play for on Saturday, however, Ottawa played loose and impressive football to end their season on a high note with a 1-0 win over Forge, just their second-ever victory against the Hamilton side who has dominated the all-time series.
“Sometimes you don’t play for tangible things to qualify for something, you have to play for the intangible,” said Atleti manager Carlos González. “This is what we did today, we needed this type of performance, we needed this type of victory to show ourselves that we have been very near and because of different circumstances we haven’t got the spot in the playoffs.”
After blowing yet another result against York United late last weekend, Ottawa spent a lot of time being brutally honest with each other this week, it translated into a strong performance at Tim Hortons Field.
“For me, it felt like we had everything in our hands and we felt like we were playing with fear, so every game we were going in we were saying oh my god we are going to lose what we have, because we were in second place at one point,” said Ilias Iliadis. “So now this game it is a prime example of the character that we truly have, and we played without fear tonight. You saw the result on the field.”
Now Ottawa will have to search within themselves to discern why there were not more performances like Saturday’s over the course of this season.
“I think this a season that we can learn from the beginning until the end many, many things,” said Carlos González. “I think that now is a period in which we should take a step back and think about everything that we have done, analyze the details and see what has gone wrong, but as you see the thin margins. The reality is that we are in sixth position but I haven’t felt that we have been much worse than teams that have been third or fourth, we could have been there.”
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Ilias Iliadis, Atlético Ottawa
The 22-year-old Ottawa midfielder was a constant problem in midfield for Forge FC on Saturday. His goal came off an excellent tackle and finish, one of the six times he won possession during the match. Iliadis also completed a tidy 36 of 39 passes and had three shot attempts.
What’s next?
Forge FC head to Calgary, where they will open the 2023 playoffs against their long-time rivals Cavalry FC at ATCO Field on Saturday, October 14 (3:00 p.m. MT/5:00 p.m. ET). For Atlético Ottawa, this will be their final match of 2023, as the 2022 regular season winners miss this year’s playoffs.
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