2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #83
Halifax Wanderers vs. York United
September 2, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. AT
Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

For the first time in 2024, York United take a trip to the East Coast to face the Halifax Wanderers at the Wanderers Grounds.

In doing so, they will look to continue their strong club history in Halifax, where they have lost just once since the 2019 season. In fact, the Wanderers lost just four times at home in 2023, with two of those losses coming to York United. They are the only club that Halifax have not defeated at home under Patrice Gheisar.

The clubs have already met twice in 2024, both times at York Lions Stadium, and the Nine Stripes have gotten the better of those matches as well. They won 2-1 back on May 24, before beating Halifax by the same scoreline on July 6.

A victory on Monday would put York United back into third place, just three points behind rivals Forge for the league lead. Having lost to Cavalry, and drawn with Forge, in their past two matches, the Nine Stripes have also never got winless for three straight games this season. It’s a record that they will be eager to avoid at this critical juncture in the campaign.

For Halifax, meanwhile, they are looking to continue a strong record of late at the Wanderers Grounds. A late Daniel Nimick penalty kick last weekend in the 96th minute to rescue a 1-1 draw with Atlético Ottawa last weekend made it six straight matches without a loss at home for the Wanderers. They have not lost at home since a 2-1 defeat on May 20 to Valour FC.

“It’s really about coming out tomorrow and beating a team that we haven’t beat at home, and continuing our wonderful streak that we’ve had,” said Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar, “and starting the game really setting a standard for ourselves.”

Monday is the first of five remaining home games for Halifax, the most of any club in the league with the exception of Valour FC. With a better points per game record (1.44) at home this season than the three teams currently above them in the table, strong performances at the Wanderers Grounds could prove critical to climbing the table back above the playoff line.

York will enter this match without key midfielder Elijah Adekugbe, who will miss the match due to yellow card accumulation. They do, however, get Oswaldo León back after he missed last week’s 0-0 draw with Forge through a suspension, which will be a big boost for their backline.

Halifax, meanwhile, used this long week between games to continue the recovery of recently injured players like Ryan Telfer and Clémént Bayiha. With the most games remaining of any team going into Monday’s match, Halifax are looking to use this critical clash with York to build momentum for a run-in where games will be frequent.

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.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Halifax looking for first Labour Day victory: With the exception of the 2020 Island Games season, the Halifax Wanderers have hosted a game on Labour Day for four of the past five seasons. Despite a strong historical home record, they have never won on the holiday, with three draws and a loss. A big reason for that is York United. Back in 2021, the Nine Stripes and Halifax played to a thrilling 3-3 draw on the holiday, with four goals scored in the 84th minute or later, including two João Morelli penalties to rescue a draw for the hosts. Last year, York overcame an early goal from Jordan Perruzza to claim a 2-1 victory on the holiday at the Wanderers Grounds. On Monday, Halifax will be hoping the third time is the charm against York United on Labour Day, for what would be a big victory in their season.

• With Adekugbe suspended, is this an opportunity for Santiago Márquez?  Few players, if any, have shone more in Benjamín Mora’s system than Elijah Adekugbe. Playing as a deep-lying midfielder, and almost as a third central defender at times, he has become a critical tempo setter for this York team. Adekugbe has started 12 consecutive games since Mora took over as coach, failing to play the full 90 minutes just twice. However, due to suspension, he will be unavailable for selection in Halifax, which will perhaps provide an opportunity for a first start for Santiago Márquez. The Necaxa loanee has looked like a tidy player in just 38 minutes of CPL action so far, winning all three of his duels and making two interceptions in that time and could be an important piece of York’s game plan on Monday. “Of course, Elijah is an important part of our backbone and our style, so we’re going to miss him, but we have Santiago right there,” said York United head coach Benjamín Mora. “We have Giraldo right there that can be an option, and well we’re looking at other options to see who’s going to replace him in that position.”

• Significant opportunity for Halifax to make up ground in the table: As the last game of the long weekend, Halifax Wanderers have had the opportunity to sit back and watch as many of their playoff rivals dropped points. Fifth-place Vancouver FC and seventh-place Pacific lost, while Valour earned a single point against Cavalry. With that in mind, Halifax will know they come into Monday’s match with a critical opportunity to gain some ground on the playoff positions. A win, and they are six points out, with a game in hand on fifth-place Vancouver FC, heading into an away match against Pacific FC next Saturday. While he understands the opportunity, Gheisar also knows that putting undue pressure on his team right now might not be the best approach. “I think our group right now obviously knows that, but that’s not a message that we’re sharing with them because if the game doesn’t go as planned, then they think the season has ended,” he said. “So you have to be careful that the message is right. It’s not our World Cup final, but it’s certainly a very, very important game.”

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Halifax Wanderers: Fillion; Fernandez, Nimick, Loughrey, Timoteo; Ferrin, Callegari, Rampersad, Rea; Coimbra, Telfer

York United: Vincensini; León, Sturing, Abatneh; Ferrari, Martínez, Márquez, Córdova, Botello; Babouli, Wright

ALL-TIME SERIES

Halifax wins: 5 || York United wins: 7 || Draws: 9

Last meeting:

July 6, 2024 — York United 2-1 Halifax Wanderers

KEY QUOTES

“We expect York, whose really been up there in the table and getting a lot of positive reasons to come in here, to be in a really compact shape and make it difficult to play. They’re not an easy team to score against. If you see it, in the past four or five games, they’ve not given up a lot of goals. So we expect an organized team that’s got a high spirit and is fighting to win and challenge for the league title.” — Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar

“Now, of course, at the end of the season, players start to understand the match better, the moment of the game, the circumstance that we face in every moment. So I think it’s going to be a nice ride to the end.” — York United head coach Benjamín Mora