Cavalry defeated York9 FC 1-0 on Sunday, dispatching the visitors and ending a win streak of two in front of the home crowd at Spruce Meadows … and extending their own to three wins in a row on the top of the Fall portion of the season.

Coming off the back of a chest-thumping victory over Pacific featuring an audacious Manny Aparicio goal, York9 hoped to turn heads in similar fashion away from home. But, the opening goal came in comical fashion, though, as Julian Buscher picked out Oliver Minatel on a quick attacking play 10 minutes in; Oliver then quickly tapped the ball backward to Jordan Brown, who tested Y9 ‘keeper Nathan Ingham, forcing a save.

However, Ingham’s spilled stop landed at the foot of Luca Gasparotto, who, in an attempt to clear the ball, only managed to have the ball hit the knee of Daniel Gogarty, and the ball trickled past Ingham into the back of the net for an own goal to Gasparotto.

That one moment would separate the two teams, as a second half compounded by multiple cramps and injury breaks saw the two teams play out to a slim 1-0 victory, despite York9’s best efforts – including a massive stop by Marco Carducci on a Kyle Porter shot in the 94th minute.

Both Cavalry and York9 return to action on Wednesday, July 24, with Canadian Championship matchups against the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact of MLS respectively. Cavalry squares off with the Caps at B.C. Place after a 0-0 1st leg at Spruce Meadows, while York9 goes into Stade Saputo having conceded a pair in a 2-2 1st leg draw at York Lions Stadium.

Box Score

Goals
10′ – Luca Gasparotto (Own Goal)

Disciplinary
77′ Yellow – Steven Furlano (York9)

Three Key Performers

Jordan Brown (Cavalry FC)

Did well to force the eventual own goal … but beyond that, neither team had any real standout players, as this stale back-and-forth ended in Cavalry’s favour. Still, Brown was a present threat throughout, and helped his team to a third win in a row.

Kyle Porter (York9 FC)

Tested the goal multiple times, including an offside goal and a late effort. While York9 wasn’t as inventive and clinical in front of goal as they’d like, Porter was, at least, making the most of a slow pitch and a scrappy midfield by pushing forward when he could.

Marco Carducci (Cavalry FC)

Made a last-gasp save to preserve the result … a save that, alone, made him a standout player on a day where he was otherwise rarely tested. A goalkeeper isn’t necessarily the most active on the field (or, shouldn’t be, really) but it’s these moments that count.