2023 Canadian Championship — Quarter-final
Forge FC vs. Atlético Ottawa
May 9, 2023 at 7 p.m. ET
Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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For the first time since the 2022 Canadian Premier League final, Forge FC and Atlético Ottawa will meet on Tuesday, in yet another do-or-die match, the quarter-final round of the Canadian Championship.

Things have gone distinctly different for the two sides since that match kicked off back on October 30, 2022. Forge would lift the North Star Shield after a 2-0 victory, and have brought back 19 players from that championship-winning side, going undefeated through five matches in all competitions in 2023 and sitting top of the CPL table. They reached quarter-finals after a commanding 3-0 home victory against League1 Québec side FC Laval.

For Ottawa, meanwhile, their 3-1 preliminary round victory against Halifax Wanderers was their only win of 2023 so far. The 2022 regular season champions sit bottom of the table after a disastrous 4-1 loss to Pacific FC at home this past weekend, which 2022 Player of the Year Ollie Bassett called “embarrassing” in his post-match media availability. They have only ever defeated Forge once in 12 all-time meetings.

When they step onto the pitch at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton on Tuesday, however, both sides know that they can’t dwell on the past. This is a different competition, one where league form has no bearing on a single elimination match.

“We know this is a competition of four matches,” said Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis. “Be your best in four matches and you are Champions League bound. I think every team thinks that way. What Ottawa did this past weekend, or what they have done in the past, I think goes out the window for this one. They are a very well-coached team, and I know they will come here with a very good game plan.”

Winning this match will bring with it a bonus for one of these clubs. On top of reaching the competition’s semi-finals, it would mean a chance to test themselves against either CF Montréal or Toronto FC, at one of the Major League Soccer side’s home grounds.

Other than Sebastian Castello, who remains out with a longer-term injury, Smyrniotis says there are a couple of game-day decisions but for the most part Forge is in good shape on the injury front after a busy start to the campaign. Despite being sent off against York United this weekend in league action, fullback Ashtone Morgan will be available for this match as it is a different competition.

There are multiple question marks injury-wise on the Ottawa side of things after a quick turnaround from Saturday night. Starting goalkeeper Nate Ingham missed that match with an ongoing finger issue, and his status remains unknown for Tuesday’s match. Carl Haworth, Zachary Roy and former Forge FC fullback Max Tissot also all remain questionable.

All CPL and Canadian Championship matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Telus’ Optik TV (Channel 980) as well as online at OneSoccer.ca, through the OneSoccer app and on the fuboTV Canada platform. Tous les matchs de l’Atlético Ottawa sont disponibles en français sur OneSoccer.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Atlético Ottawa hoping to turn the page in a new competition: When suffering a loss like Ottawa did over the weekend in CPL action, any player will tell you the best medicine is an opportunity to get right back onto the pitch. Instead of dwelling on a shambolic performance and result this weekend, Atleti gets the chance to turn the page quickly and could make club history by reaching the semi-finals for the first time. It could be the perfect opportunity for Ottawa to change their fortunes. “This is what we need right now, another competition, a competition that motivates us a lot, against a good opponent,” said Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos González. “And we have a good opportunity to change things.”

• Forge’s defensive solidity key to a strong start to 2023: While Ottawa tries to recover from allowing two goals in the first 10 minutes against Pacific over the weekend, Forge has gone an impressive 228 minutes without a goal against, dating back to Massimo Ferrin’s goal for Halifax in the first half of a 1-1 draw on April 22. New signing Manjrekar James has been immense, while goalkeeper Triston Henry made some incredible stops so far this year to preserve the three clean sheets they have picked up in all competitions.  “Most importantly just a bigger commitment to team defending,” said Smyrniotis of the team’s defensive efforts. “We have the players, and the defensive players, who can do the business. Like we attack as a group, we defend as a group, and I think that maybe was missing in the first game of the season, and we’ve seen slowly after that a bigger commitment from the group to making sure that we make it very difficult for our opponents.”

• “It’s a trophy that we want in our cabinet here” Forge’s pursuit of history continues: No CPL side has come closer than Forge to lifting the Voyageurs Cup, who lost the 2020 final on penalties, and also came within eleven rounds of spot kicks from reaching the final in 2021. Getting back to the Concacaf Champions League is the stated goal for this club in 2023, but while winning a second regular-season championship or a fourth North Star Shield would also accomplish that, no route to continental competition would make a bigger statement than winning the Canadian Championship. “We have done well in the league, in the CPL so far,” said Henry. “[But] we want to challenge and get this trophy. We have come close against those two MLS teams before, losing in shootouts twice, against both of them. This is also another route to the Champions League, so you definitely want to take this seriously and try to win it all. But take it one game at a time, of course.”

ALL-TIME SERIES

Atlético Ottawa: 1 || Forge wins: 9 || Draws: 2

Previous match:

October 30, 2022— Atlético Ottawa 0-2 Forge FC

KEY QUOTES

“The past is the past, it is what is going on now. I think for both teams regardless of what form is in the league this is a game that is important to get to the next round.” — Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis

“I think we are going to expect a good game, a team that is going to come out and give us their all, and put up a good fight. At the end of the day, we know they are a quality team so we aren’t going to take one match and think they are not as good as they are…It is a cup match and anything can happen on the day so we have to be locked in.” — Forge FC goalkeeper Triston Henry 

“In this moment, we need to roll up our sleeves. We have to work more than ever and we have to be self-demanding, each one with the things that we can control…everyone at the moment can give more, can do better. What is in our hands is that we have to work to improve.” — Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos González