At long last, Cavalry FC are North Star Cup Champions after a 2-1 victory over rivals Forge FC at ATCO Field on Saturday.

After previously falling in the 2019 and 2023 CPL Finals to Forge, a dominant first half was the difference for Cavalry. They took a two-goal lead into the break on a penalty from Tobias Warschewski followed by a goal from Sergio Camargo. Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson had the lone goal for Forge early in the second half.

Cavalry instantly put Forge under pressure, and won a corner just a few minutes into the match. Off a delivery from Ali Musse, the ball fell to Diego Gutiérrez close to goal but he could not get his strike on target.

The Cavs continued to find all kinds of joy down the right flanks as Ali Musse had several good one-on-one opportunities. In the 19th minute, one of his crosses fell to Jay Herdman, who took a lovely touch and cut inside before seeing his shot well saved by Jassem Koleilat.

Forge were forced to make a change in the 30th minute when Nana Ampomah had to be removed due to injury, and they brought on 2023 CPL Final hero Tristan Borges.

Seconds later, Cavalry created their well-deserved moment. Warschewski was wrestled down in the box, winning a penalty kick. The German striker stepped up and smashed it into the top right corner past Koleilat to give the Cavs a 1-0 lead.

Forge went the other way a few minutes later and forced a great save from Marco Carducci on a rocket from Noah Jensen, their only shot on target of the half.

In the 38th minute, Cavalry doubled their lead. After Warschewski’s initial shot was blocked, he played in Camargo down the left of the box, and the day-one Cavalry player made no mistake, slotting the ball to the right of Koleilat to make it 2-0. The hosts held that commanding lead going into the half.

Forge gave themselves life early in the second half, as a bouncing ball in the Cavalry box was directed into the path of Achinioti-Jönsson by Alessandro Hojabrpour, who sent it past Carducci to make the score 2-1. With the goal, the Swede became the fourth player to score in two CPL Finals, having also scored in the 2020 Final.

The goal seemed to add nerves back into the stadium, as Forge began to see more of the ball and create more chances. In the 61st minute, Borges was narrowly beaten to a ball in behind by  Carducci as the Hamilton club searched for an equalizer.

Carducci was called into action again in the 78th minute as Bekker sent a threatening ball across his box, but he was able to collect it in the moments before any other Forge player could get a foot on it in the box.

Musse nearly put the match to bed early into the seven minutes of stoppage time as he broke away on a counterattack, but his strike across goal was brilliantly stopped by Koleilat. The Forge goalkeeper again denied Lowell Wright in the seventh minute of stoppage time, but that would be the final kick of the match.

As the full-time whistle went, Cavalry FC players across the pitch sunk to their knees in celebration as all their years of heartbreak had finally been washed away.

Cavalry become the third different CPL Playoff champion, joining Forge FC (2019, 2020, 2022, 2023) and Pacific FC (2021).

BOX SCORE

Lineups 

Cavalry FC:   Carducci; Aird (Kobza 82′), Klomp, Montgomery, Kamdem; Gutiérrez, Shome; Musse, Camargo (Shaw 58′), Herdman (Trafford 71′); Warschewski (Wright 82′)

Forge FC: Koleilat; Duncan (Campbell 81′), Samuel, Achinioti-Jönsson, Owolabi-Belewu; Hojabrpour, Bekker, Jensen (Parra 69′), Choinière, Ampomah (Borges 30′), Badibanga

Goals

32′ — Tobias Warschewski (Cavalry FC) (Penalty)
38′ — Sergio Camargo (Cavalry FC)
52′ — Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson (Forge FC)

Discipline

15′ — Yellow: Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson (Forge FC)
47′ — Yellow: Béni Badibanga (Forge FC)
51′ — Yellow: Diego Gutiérrez (Cavalry FC)
75′ — Yellow: Malcolm Shaw (Cavalry FC)
88′ — Yellow: Tristan Borges (Forge FC)
90+4′ — Yellow: Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC)