A furious first half allowed Cavalry FC to pick up their second win of the season, 3-1 against Vancouver FC in the expansion side’s first visit to ATCO Field.

Myer Bevan had a brace inside the opening 21 minutes of the match, while Sergio Camargo added to the scoring for the hosts. Shaan Hundal scored the lone goal for the visitors — his fifth of the season. It was the first time that Cavalry have scored three goals in a match since July of 2022.

The scoring came early and often, as it was Vancouver FC who stunned ATCO Field with the opener in just the fourth minute. Cavalry were too nonchalant with their passing out of the back, and Udoka Chima was dispossessed by Gael Sandoval in front of his own goal, who in turn found Hundal. The Brampton-born striker made no mistake to give Vancouver an incredibly early 1-0 lead.  It was his fifth goal of the season, momentarily putting him alone at the top of the league’s scoring race.

Cavalry responded quickly, however, as in the 10th minute Bevan continued to add his name to the Golden Boot race with his fourth of the season. The New Zealand international got himself on the end of a deflected long ball and curled it past Callum Irving to tie the match.

The breathtaking start to the match continued in the 21st minute as Bevan struck again. The goal came from a brilliant bit of teamwork from Cavalry, as Goteh Ntignee and Camargo played an excellent one-two before the latter showed excellent composure to lay off to Bevan for his fifth of the season — tying Hundal for the league lead.

Bevan then nearly completed his hat trick in the 28th minute. Roberto Alarcón found himself in plenty of space after an excellent switch of play, playing in a cross to the red-hot Cavalry striker. Bevan’s redirection found the crossbar, but Camargo was on hand to head home to give the hosts a 3-1 lead.

It was a stunning reversal after allowing such a disastrous goal just moments into the match, and gave Cavalry a commanding lead heading into halftime.

Needing a significant change in the second half, Vancouver manager Afshin Ghotbi removed youngster T.J. Tahid in favour of Nima Zadeh. This meant shifting to a three at the back with the hope of allowing more defensive solidity.

It was unquestionably a better start to the second 45 for Vancouver as a result, as the move allowed the visitors to hold onto the ball better and have a few more options when trying to play out of the back.

It translated into a few good goalscoring opportunities late in the match, with Gael Sandoval’s shot in the 83rd minute being blocked, before Min-Jae Kwak hit the crossbar with an excellent curling effort in the 87th minute. But Vancouver were ultimately not able to cut into the host’s lead.

As a result of the loss, Vancouver FC finish the weekend at the bottom of the league, while Cavalry consolidate their fourth-place spot in the table. Vancouver are now winless in seven matches.

BOX SCORE

Goals

4′ — Shaan Hundal (Vancouver FC)
10′ — Myer Bevan (Cavalry FC)
21′ — Myer Bevan (Cavalry FC)
28′ — Sergio Camargo (Cavalry FC) 

Discipline

46′ — Yellow: Elliot Simmons (Vancouver FC)
66′ — Yellow: Myer Bevan (Cavalry FC)
73′ — Yellow: James Cameron (Vancouver FC)
75′ — Yellow: Rocco Romeo (Vancouver FC)