Canadian Premier League — Match #59
Cavalry FC vs. York9 FC
August 21, 2019 — Spruce Meadows (9 p.m. ET/7 p.m. MT)
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca

A crucial four-game road swing for York9 FC begins Wednesday night with their second visit to Spruce Meadows of the Fall season, as Cavalry FC looks to get back on a winning track at home.

Although unbeaten in Fall competition (3-0-3), Cavalry has drawn their last three CPL matches (both of the last two 0-0 stalemates). In fact, the last league match Cavalry won was exactly a month ago, in this exact same fixture — a 1-0 triumph over York9 that time. Tommy Wheeldon Jr.’s men are, nonetheless, still second in the league table, just one point behind Forge FC at the top.

It’s been a tough few weeks for York9 as well, as they’ve slipped behind Forge, Cavalry, and FC Edmonton in their chase for the Fall crown. The Nine Stripes have lost their last two games by 2-0 scorelines, both at home and neither to a side ahead of them in the table. Now that they’ve dropped six points at home over two games, this string of road games could make or break their season, as they’re slated to play all three of the clubs currently within a point of each other at the summit.

Both these teams have been well below their best in the past few outings, and each would certainly like to get back on the right foot and keep pace in what’s set to be a tight race to the Fall championship.

York9 will remain in Alberta after this one, with a trip to FC Edmonton next on the docket on Sunday, August 25 (6:00 p.m. ET, 4:00 p.m. MT, on OneSoccer). Cavalry will head out on the road for another high-stakes clash with Forge FC, also on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, on OneSoccer).

KEYS TO THE MATCH

• Rekindle the spark: Neither of these teams has scored in their last two CPL games. Granted, the Cavs have also kept a clean sheet in both those contests, but it’s still not good enough for a club that’s set the bar as high as they have. York9 has struggled to find the net against Cavalry in the past, with just one goal in three games against them. These are two teams that have shown tremendous attacking prowess in the recent past, so perhaps it’s just a matter of which one can heat up first.
• Make a plan: Much of the reason for York9’s stunted attack against Cavalry in prior meetings is that they struggled to break up the Calgary-based side’s high-pressure football. York9 will surely have spent some time in the buildup to this game studying Tommy Wheeldon Jr.’s system, and now it’s on Nine Stripes boss Jimmy Brennan to find a way to create space for his players up front — primarily Rodrigo Gattas and Ryan Telfer. They’ll have an easier time using long balls to switch play at Spruce Meadows than they’re used to at York Lions Stadium, so that could be an option.
• Depth all around: The past couple weeks, Wheeldon Jr. has rotated his lineup for CPL games with Cavalry’s Canadian Championship efforts on his mind. Those new-look Cavs squads demonstrated that this team has a lot of players who can make a significant impact (and not all of them can fit in the starting 11). Regardless of who starts on Wednesday, Cavalry will have some talent on the bench to help provide a spark if they don’t get the start — whether it’s Mauro Eustaquio, Oliver Minatel, Aribim Pepple, or someone else.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Cavalry FC: Marco Carducci; Nathan Mavila, Dominick Zator, Mason Trafford, Malyk Hamilton; Nik Ledgerwood, Julian Buscher, Elijah Adekugbe; Nico Pasquotti, Dominique Malonga, Sergio Camargo

York9 FC: Nathan Ingham; Diyaedinne Abzi, Luca Gasparotto, Roger Thompson, Morey Doner; Wataru Murofushi, Joe Di Chiara; Kyle Porter, Manuel Aparicio, Rodrigo Gattas; Ryan Telfer

HEAD TO HEAD

May 4 – Cavalry FC 2-1 York9 FC
June 26 – York9 FC 0-2 Cavalry FC
July 21 – Cavalry FC 1-0 York9 FC

STATS LEADERS

Sergio Camargo – 5 goals (Cavalry FC)
Rodrigo Gattas – 5 goals (York9 FC)

INJURIES

Chris Serban (Cavalry FC) – Out (Knee)
Dean Northover (Cavalry FC) – Out (ACL)
Jordan Brown (Cavalry FC) – Doubtful

INTERNATIONAL DUTY

None

SUSPENSIONS

None

ACCUMULATION

(Players are suspended for one match 14 days after accumulating a 4th Yellow Card)

Jonathan Wheeldon (Cavalry FC) – 4 – (will miss Aug. 25 vs. Forge FC)
Elijah Adekugbe (Cavalry FC) – 3
Joel Waterman (Cavalry FC) – 3
Luca Gasparotto (York9 FC) – 3

REFEREES

Referee: Yusri Rudolf
Assistants: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt & Erina Cho
4th Official: Michael Mund