Cavalry FC won the 2019 Canadian Premier League (CPL) spring season, and secured a berth in the CPL Championship, with a 2-0 victory over York9 FC in Ontario Wednesday.
The two-legged CPL Championship final will be held over the weekends of October 26 – 27 and November 2 – 3. Calgary’s new professional soccer club will face either the fall season winner, that begins in July, or the club with the second best overall season record, should Cavalry FC also win the fall season. The winner of the fall season will also get the choice of whether or not to host the first or second leg of the CPL Championship. Each team will play 18 games in the fall season.
Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. was pleased to see his club secure the CPL spring season with a game to spare and had nothing but praise for this squad following the match.
“These guys proved (they) can win in all stages of the game,” said Wheeldon Jr. “When they need to defend, they defend; when they can attack, they’re ruthless. It’s great to get it done.”
Goals by Dominique Malonga and Julian Büscher, in the 24th and 35th minutes respectively, seemed to settle Wednesday’s match by halftime, though Marco Carducci, in the visitors goal, was called upon a couple times in the second half.
“We treated this like a cup final,” said Wheeldon Jr. “When it was getting down to the last 10, 15 minutes and our backs were against the wall, we refused to lose.
“That’s why we’re in the position we are in now. But this is not the end of anything. It’s the beginning of something special we’re building.”
Up next for Cavalry FC
Cavalry FC round off the spring season against Pacific FC on Vancouver Island Monday, July 1 (Canada Day) and begin the fall season against the same opposition at the same venue five days later. Cavalry FC’s next CPL home game is July 21 against York9 FC.
- In Pictures: Cavalry FC loses for the first time at the hands of Forge FC
- In Pictures: Sweden beat Canada in Women’s World Cup second round
Cavalry FC is also set to play Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps in the Canadian Championship, the season-long national knock-out tournament, featuring all professional Canadian men’s soccer teams, next month.
The Cavs host the Whitecaps July 10 at Spruce Meadows in the competition’s third round and play the return leg in Vancouver two weeks later.