Remove the storytelling element from soccer, and you quickly realize it’s really just a bunch of grown-ups in matching laundry kicking a ball.

Luckily, we do have the narrative part of the game to enthrall us, with each season providing an inexhaustible supply of storytelling twists and turns to keep us intermittently glued to our seats and bursting out of them.

For instance, who the heck saw Easton Ongaro coming? Not me! But there I was last week, wondering if his explosion onto the scene would earn him a national-team call-up for next month’s CONCACAF Nations League matches.

He didn’t make the cut on this occasion, but his rise has been one of the CPL’s top stories of the season!

Fundamentally, that’s what Wednesday Wonders is about. I don’t especially care about tactics or statistics or the nitty-gritty elements of the game. I want to know where the story is coming from, where it might go next, and how it’s going to get there. There are no script writers to leak out spoilers; the only way we know for sure is to wait and see.

So, for this week, I wonder…

What’s going through David Edgar’s head this week?

Forge FC need just a draw against Olimpia on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF League. But then, Canadians are well aware of the narrative around heading into Honduras needing “just a draw” to move on in a competition.

No one involved in this showdown knows that more than David Edgar, who joined Forge earlier this month and has already made an impact, including in the team’s 1-0 win over Cavalry FC on Sunday.

Back in 2012, Edgar was involved in perhaps the most infamous match in Canadian soccer history. The men’s national team headed down to Honduras needing “just a draw” to advance to the final round of FIFA World Cup qualifying; instead, they absorbed an 8-1 trouncing that eliminated them from World Cup contention.

Edgar was a fresh-faced 25-year-old back then. Now, he’s an established veteran who knows better than anyone else in the Forge locker room what to expect. Could Edgar’s painful lessons from seven years ago be enough to make the difference, as Forge seeks to make even more history in their inaugural season?

Can Marcus Haber fulfill some pre-season expectations?

Coming to the CPL as one of its most well-known signings, Pacific FC’s Marcus Haber was an early pick among many pundits (myself included) to be one of the league’s top scorers. Meanwhile, Michael Petrasso was regarded as a shrewd pick-up by Valour FC, an erstwhile winger who’d been seen mostly in a fullback role in recent years.

Fast forward to the dog days of summer, and things have hardly gone the way anyone suspected. Haber has missed much of the campaign due to injury, while Petrasso is in fact the one challenging for the league’s scoring crown, due in part to being Rob Gale’s go-to man on penalty kicks.

So, it was fascinating to see their paths cross at Westhills Stadium last weekend, with Petrasso popping his sixth goal of the season, but being overshadowed by Haber’s triumphant return to form, with the big man’s brace leading the home side to a 2-1 victory.

It’s probably too late for Haber to contend for the league’s goal-scoring title; in place of that, though, I’ll be watching to see whether the Pacific FC striker can catch Petrasso, his fellow national-team alumnus, to restore some balance to the narrative universe.

Speaking of Pacific FC goal scorers …

Where’s the love for Terran Campbell?

To celebrate all seven teams surpassing the minutes-played threshold for U-21 players this week, some of my colleagues here on this delightful website weighed in on who they saw as the top talents in that age range. There were some quality names thrown around, no doubt; but conspicuous by his absence was 20-year-old Terran Campbell who is, y’know, the league’s top scorer to this point!

Now, sure, perhaps the emphasis on youth at Pacific FC has meant he’s had to share the “young kid made good” spotlight with numerous teammates… and sure, teammate Victor Blasco’s goals have perhaps garnered more attention due to their highlight-reel nature… and sure, the fact that Ongaro has rocketed to six goals so expeditiously is perhaps the more compelling narrative.

But still … top scorer! In our Canadian league! In a country that hasn’t traditionally scored a lot of goals!

Don’t worry, Terran, I see you.