Forge FC and Cavalry FC split the points with a 2-2 scoreline at Tim Hortons Field on Saturday afternoon, as a screamer from David Choinière on the brink of fulltime equalized for the hosts, capping off a remarkable contest between two entertaining sides in the ComeOn! Match of the Week.

The game was a hotly-contested one right from kickoff, with the two sides both trying to play expansive, front-footed soccer. It was Forge, though, who had the better of the opening stages; they worked the ball into the attacking third along the right flank and Woobens Pacius sent a cross into the box. Though Cavalry managed to parry the initial ball, it settled nicely for Alessandro Hojabrpour just outside the penalty area, and he blasted it into the top corner for his first goal with Forge, just three minutes into the game.

Both sides traded blows throughout the half — one tackle on Chris Nanco in the box drew shouts for a penalty from the Forge players — but ultimately the Cavs found their groove in the 10 minutes before halftime. They scored their first thanks to some excellent work by Joe Mason, who danced through the box before setting up Ali Musse for a spinning volley goalward. Forge keeper Triston Henry stopped the initial effort, but it was Mason who jumped on the loose ball to equalize.

Less than 10 minutes later, the visitors took the lead via the left foot of Musse. He took the ball down at the top of the box and brought it forward himself before unleashing a well-placed strike into the bottom right corner.

The two managers both opted to make a change at halftime. Cavs boss Tommy Wheeldon Jr. brought Elliot Simmons into midfield in place of Charlie Trafford, while Forge’s Bobby Smyrniotis shuffled his lineup for a more attacking look by putting Tristan Borges on to replace Noah Jensen.

Forge came achingly close to equalizing just before the hour mark, with Woobens Pacius and Terran Campbell finding themselves completely free on the way to the net, but Pacius couldn’t put his shot past Cavalry ‘keeper Julian Roloff.

The hosts continued to press in the late stages of the match, earning some key set-piece opportunities deep in Cavalry’s half, but the visiting defence held firm and Roloff made a couple of timely saves to maintain the slim lead.

At last, though, Forge found their moment. After enjoying plenty of time in the attacking third, Forge’s equalizer came just before stoppage time as David Choinière picked up the ball at the corner of the box and pinged a perfect strike off the right goalpost and into the net to make it 2-2.

So, both teams — though still technically winless for the season — earned their first point each from a hotly-contested, compelling encounter in Hamilton.

BOX SCORE

Goals

3′ — Alessandro Hojabrpour (Forge FC)
31′ — Joe Mason (Cavalry FC)
40′ — Ali Musse (Cavalry FC)
90′ — David Choinière (Cavalry FC)

Discipline

6′ — Yellow: Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC)
32′ — Yellow: Karifa Yao (Cavalry FC)
43′ — Yellow: Victor Loturi (Cavalry FC)
72′ — Yellow: Garven Metusala (Forge FC)
80′ — Yellow: José Escalante (Cavalry FC)