HALIFAX – Cavalry FC is now just a point away from clinching the Spring title, as they eliminated HFX Wanderers FC from contention on Wednesday with a 2-1 win at Wanderers Grounds. The win is Cavalry’s seventh in a row as their perfect start to the CPL continues.

It wasn’t the prettiest match either side has played, with players from both sides delivering crunching challenges all evening and six of them going into referee Yusri Rudolf’s book for it. Near the end of a first half where both sides were on each other too quickly to generate much offensively, it was Cavalry who found the net first.

Sergio Camargo fought his way through a pile of HFX defenders in the 39th minute to get to a ball that was played in over the top, and he finished past Marco Carducci to make it 1-0. Just minutes later, the visitors pulled even further ahead, as the Wanderers’ Andre Bona knocked a dangerous corner into his own goal.

The league leaders thus went into halftime with the home crowd silenced, but they wouldn’t quite coast to victory. HFX came out very strong in the second half, and just six minutes in, Andre Rampersad finished a magnificent cross from Kodai Iida to re-inject some life into the Wanderers.

It was not to be for HFX, though. Despite an energetic second half which saw them on the front foot a good deal, they weren’t able to find that second goal from any of their decent chances — not even Akeem Garcia, who found himself facing an open net in the 68th minute.

Both clubs are back at it this Saturday, June 22. HFX Wanderers will head to the GTA to play York9 FC (3:30 p.m. ET, on OneSoccer), while Cavalry returns home, where they’ll host Forge FC with the CPL’s Spring title on the line (6:00 p.m. ET, 4:00 p.m. MT, on OneSoccer).

Box Score

Goals
39′ – Sergio Camargo (Cavalry FC)
42′ – Andre Bona (OG) (Cavalry FC)
51′ – Andre Rampersad (HFX Wanderers FC)

Disciplinary
27′ – Yellow Card – Kodai Iida (HFX Wanderers FC)
37′ – Yellow Card – Joel Waterman (Cavalry FC)
40′ – Yellow Card – Matthew Arnone (HFX Wanderers FC)
58′ – Yellow Card – Jonathan Wheeldon (Cavalry FC)
71′ – Yellow Card – Andrew Rampersad (HFX Wanderers FC)
81′ – Yellow Card – Julian Buescher (Cavalry FC) 

Three Key Performers

Nico Pasquotti (Cavalry FC)

When is he not an x-factor? Although HFX kept him mostly at bay early in the match, he eventually found a way to make an impact. Pasquotti was Cavalry’s most energetic player in his ball-seeking runs on the flank, and he deserves the most credit for their second goal. He provided three solid open-play crosses and made five tackles to recover the ball for the Cavs.

Kodai Iida (HFX Wanderers FC)

It was a spirited (if chippy) night for Iida, who delivered the excellent cross leading to Andre Rampersad’s goal. His skill was on full display as he often found himself with plenty of space in the attacking half, beating defenders in one-on-one battles and drawing free kicks in very dangerous areas.

Sergio Camargo (Cavalry FC) 

Yet another creative bright spot for Cavalry, Camargo also showed off his work-rate to craft his team’s first-half goal. He showed excellent determination in finessing his way through the HFX backline to get to the loose ball for his goal, and after that he continued to make life difficult for the Wanderers. Both his shots went on target, and his passing was among his team’s best at 82.9% accuracy.