PREVIEW: Forge FC vs. Cavalry FC -- 2023 Match #2

PREVIEW: Forge FC vs. Cavalry FC — 2023 Match #2

2023-04-14

Charlie O’Connor-Clarke, Digital Content Editor (@charliejclarke)

2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #2
Forge FC vs. Cavalry FC
April 15, 2023 at 4 p.m. ET
Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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The Canadian Premier League’s opening weekend will treat fans to perhaps its most exciting matchup on Saturday, as Forge FC welcome Cavalry FC to Hamilton in an early renewal of hostilities between the league’s greatest rivals.

For Cavalry, Saturday’s match is a return to the place where their season ended last year. The Calgary side had its 2022 playoff campaign cut short in the semifinals at Tim Hortons Field, where a heated second leg resulted in Forge advancing and the Cavs heading home with a 3-2 aggregate defeat.

Forge, meanwhile, take to the pitch as champions, this being their first home game since winning the CPL Final in Ottawa last October. The Hammers claimed their third North Star Shield in the nation’s capital, beating Atlético Ottawa 2-0 in a magnificent away performance.

Not much has changed for them, with Bobby Smyrniotis’ squad for 2023 containing just one newcomer — Canadian international defender Manjrekar James — and very few players departing, the most notable being defender Daniel Krutzen.

Cavalry, on the other hand, have made more substantial changes to the squad following last year’s playoff defeat. Callum Montgomery has arrived to replace defenders Karifa Yao, Mason Trafford and David Norman Jr., and a few new faces have joined to bolster the midfield in Shamit Shome and Jesse Daley.

Last year, these two sides finished level on 47 points with identical 14-5-9 records, though Forge’s goal differential pushed them into second place. In the regular season, Forge won two contests while Cavalry claimed one, with a draw between them as well.

It being the first game of the 2023 season, both sides should enter with a relatively clean bill of health. That said, Forge will continue to feel the effects of last year’s playoff clash, with captain Kyle Bekker set to serve the one game remaining in his red card suspension from these teams’ last meeting. Young attacker Sebastian Castello also picked up an injury in Forge’s preseason in Costa Rica, so he’ll miss out on Saturday.

Cavalry will also be without attackers Ben Fisk and Sergio Camargo, both of whom the club is monitoring cautiously to avoid putting too much early strain on minor leg injuries.

The reigning champions Forge have never won a season-opening match in their four-year history, nor a home opener. They’ll be looking to change that on Saturday, especially with the regular season championship meaning more in 2023. Cavalry, on the other hand, will be eager to stop them.

All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

Same old Forge? The prevailing theme out of Forge’s preseason is that things are, largely, the same as always with the champions. It’s likely that Bobby Smyrniotis makes just one change from the starting XI that kicked off the Final in Ottawa — Manjrekar James swapping in for Daniel Krutzen at centre-back. The main wrinkle will be how Smyrniotis chooses to set up his midfield with Kyle Bekker suspended, but Noah Jensen proved a very capable understudy to the skipper last year. Look for Forge to pick up right where they left off — which should be a major advantage thanks to their chemistry and familiarity (although Cavalry may also have a better idea of what to expect).

Cavs seek attacking potency: One of the most glaring issues at Cavalry in the back half of last season was an inefficiency in the way they attacked. They scored more than one goal in just 12 out of 28 games, which made it difficult for them to see games out comfortably. This year, Tommy Wheeldon Jr. might be experimenting with how he sets up his attack — perhaps even deploying both Joe Mason and Myer Bevan as dual strikers — in an effort to generate and finish more high-quality scoring chances.

Discipline key in early-season fixture: The last thing either of these two teams will want to do in the first game of the season is put themselves in card trouble already. Twice out of six meetings last season, Forge and Cavalry finished on 10 men apiece — as a result of a red card in the semifinal, Kyle Bekker will unfortunately miss out for Forge. Across those six games, 37 cards in total were dished out. Both sides will play with an edge, of course; expect Cavalry’s José Escalante and Forge’s Rezart Rama to renew hostilities in particular. Still, neither team wants to begin racking up the cautions — or worse — this early in the year.

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Forge FC: Henry; Rama, James, Achinioti-Jönsson, Morgan; Jensen, Hojabrpour, Sissoko; Choinière, Pacius, Borges

Cavalry FC: Carducci; Alarcón, Klomp, Montgomery, Escalante; Musse, Trafford, Shome, Cantave; Mason, Bevan

ALL-TIME SERIES

Forge wins: 10 || Cavalry wins: 6 || Draws: 4

Last meeting:

October 23, 2022: Forge 2-1 Cavalry

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Marie-Soleil Beaudoin

KEY QUOTES

“The most important thing is consistency because that can happen from day one forward, that’s great … You look across the league and I think, apart from two or three teams, we’re looking at over 50 per cent roster turnover. So there’s a lot of new things to look at in opponents.” — Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis

“Forge is going to be on our calendar four times a year — five if we meet them in the playoffs. For us, it’s nice to start the season where you left off, because I think it’s where you bury the ghosts, but everything’s different. You don’t get the same scoreline, you don’t get the same referee, but what you do get is a great game against a terrific side.” — Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.

“You want to be playing for points, and what better place to start than here? We know what these games mean for us and them, and for our fans, but I think it’s a great opportunity for us to just get going. We want to push, we want to be tested.” — Cavalry FC goalkeeper Marco Carducci