CALGARY — Calgary's Cavalry FC have won their first-ever Canadian Premier League title.
Tobias Warschewski and Sergio Camargo both scored as Cavalry FC earned a 2-1 decision over powerhouse Hamilton's Forge FC on Saturday in the CPL Final.
The Calgary club hoisted the North Star Cup — awarded to the winner of the CPL championship — for the first time in the league’s six-year history before a sellout crowd of 7,052 at Spruce Meadows.
Cavalry players and coaches hugged one another and wiped tears from their eyes after “slaying the dragon” and beating the four-time champion Forge.
“I’ve had champagne thrown in my face for the last half-an-hour, so my answers might be a little wonky,” Calvary head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. said during a post-game news conference. “But we’ve got to savour these moments. Winning is hard.”
In 2019, Forge beat Cavalry in the first CPL Cup final with a 2-0 aggregate win in the two-game series.
Then came a 2-1 victory for Forge in extra time at Tim Hortons Field in 2023. In the 21st minute, Forge midfielder Tristan Borges scored an Olimpico goal — a corner kick that finds the net without another player touching the ball — for the win.
“I don’t think I have the words,” Wheeldon said of finally beating Forge for the title. “It’s surreal to do it in front of our fans."
Buoyed by the raucous crowd, Warschewski opened the scoring in the 32nd minute on a penalty kick. The 2024 CPL Golden Boot winner hammered the ball top shelf behind Forge goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat.
In the 39th minute, Warschewski secured the ball on top of the box and threaded a pass to Camargo on the left side in space.
Camargo finished the play on the far side to make it 2-0 for the Cavalry.
“The first-half performance was high level,” Wheeldon said. “It was outstanding. It was entertaining. It was cutthroat. It was fun to watch.”
Fun to watch for some, but not others.
“One team worked a little bit harder in the first 30 minutes,” a dejected Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis said after the final whistle. “There's no doubt. If you watch the game, that’s obvious.”
Forge cut the lead to 2-1 early in the second half as Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson nudged the ball behind Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci. The Hamilton side pressed and pressed as time wound down but failed to net the equalizer.
“We flipped the script,” Smyrniotis said of the second half. “We scored early. We've been able to apply pressure, but today, that second magical goal wasn't there.”
The Calvary supporters — led by the Foot Soldiers, the official fan support group of Cavalry FC — chanted, screamed and sang through the final seven minutes of injury time.
“I’m from the city,” said the Calgary-born Carducci. “So to be able to play here at home, in an atmosphere like that, was really special.
“It just feels phenomenal that the fans helped us through.”
The CPL currently has teams in eight cities: Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and Halifax.
Both Calvary FC and Forge FC have qualified for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup, the region’s elite club championship.
“We’re far from done,” Wheeldon said. “We take a day to celebrate, a day to bleed, and then we move forward.
“I’ll tell you what, we’re going to have one hell of a party tonight.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
Vicki Hall, The Canadian Press