2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #60
Vancouver FC vs. Cavalry FC
July 26, 2024 at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET
Willoughby Community Park in Langley, British Columbia
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As Vancouver FC prepared for the 2024 Canadian Premier League season, they knew this current stretch was of vital importance.

With five home matches in a six-game stretch between July 12 and August 18, this was an incredible opportunity for the team to pick up points and push toward the top of the table. It was especially important as following this stretch the team plays just three of their final nine matches of the campaign at home.

So far, it hasn’t gone to plan. Vancouver FC have just one point from their last three home matches and needed a 93rd-minute Alejandro Díaz equalizer to earn it against York United this past weekend.

On Friday night, they have a big opportunity to change that as they host Cavalry FC at Willoughby Community Park for the first time this season. The Calgary club remain the only CPL team that VFC has never defeated, with five losses and two draws all time.

That includes two losses this season, in both the league at the Canadian Championship, as well as a 0-0 draw in the last meeting between the two sides in the inaugural CPL on Tour match in Kelowna, BC. on June 16.

“Listen, I know in our record, we’ve never lost to them, but we never underestimate them,” said Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr, “and I know that they’ll want to change that narrative.”

Cavalry FC are intent on changing their narrative as well, having spent the first half of the season largely below the league’s playoff line. A win over Vancouver FC is a good place to start, as it would be just their second on the road this campaign and see them fly above the Eagles in the CPL table. But with a league-low five goals on the road this season, they know they need much better performances away from home in the second half of the campaign than they had in the first.

Vancouver, however, have struggled to keep goals out of their own net lately with eight goals allowed in their past three home matches.

Further, The most goals Cavalry have managed in a match this season came back in May when they beat Vancouver FC 3-1 at ATCO Field. Tobias Warschewski scored twice in that match, his first two goals for the Cavs. He added another against the Eagles in a 1-0 Canadian Championship win.

He has since scored five more in league action, bringing him to seven on the season, but like his Cavalry teammates, Warschewski hasn’t been quite as effective away from home. He has scored just one of his seven goals this season in an away match. Interestingly, only four of Warschewski’s 18 CPL career goals have been scored outside of Alberta.

Nevertheless, the German attacker remains heavily involved in the league’s Golden Boot race, just one behind leader Rubén del Campo of Atlético Ottawa. With three goals in his past four matches, Vancouver FC’s Díaz has joined the race as well, having now scored six in total. The Mexican forward won the 2022 Golden Boot as a member of Pacific FC, despite leaving the club midway through that season to join Norwegian side Sogndal.

With Cavalry claiming just one win in their past six matches, and Vancouver with just a lone victory in their past eight, this game has the potential to be a significant one in the season for both teams as they look to break those streaks and begin a run up the table.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Cavalry FC getting healthier again: After a really tough few weeks in the Cavalry treatment room, the light at the end of the tunnel appears to be approaching as several players are on the verge of returning from injury. Fullback Bradley Kamdem has been training with the group this week, and could be available for selection on Friday. Eryk Kobza and Ali Musse, meanwhile, are close to a return, while Maël Henry is finally back and looking fully fit again. To add further depth, Wheeldon Jr. revealed on Wednesday that the side is looking to announce the signing of another striker in the next few weeks, having already recently put pen to paper with German attacker Nicholas Wähling, as well as former York United striker Lowell Wright. With all that in mind, Wheeldon Jr. said he was full of confidence as he spoke to his players this week. “I see the players that are returning, I see that we’re always strong on the run-in every season,” He said. “And I said, just mark my words. I said ‘We’ll go on a run here, and we will change the narrative.'”

•  Cavalry’s Klomp coming off of an important goal: Over the past few weeks, as Cavalry have continued to struggle to put the ball in the back of the net, Wheeldon Jr. has made it clear that his strikers, Tobias Warschewski in particular, need more support. Last year, as they scored a league-leading 46 goals, Cavalry did so from a variety of different sources — wingers, midfielders and defenders. One important source of goals was central defender Daan Klomp, particularly off set pieces, with five goals scored between the regular season and playoffs last year. Despite another outstanding defensive campaign, Klomp had been frustrated in front of goal until he scored the opener in a 1-1 draw against Forge this past weekend. Having the Cavalry central defender confidence in the attack box again could go a long way toward giving the team another critical weapon, especially given how good the deliveries have been from wide areas this season. 
  

• Garcia – Rommens double pivot an exciting prospect for Vancouver FC: In Vancouver FC’s 1-1 draw with York United this past weekend, one of the clear bright spots was the debut of the club’s newest signing, 29-year-old midfield Olivier Rommens. The Belgian formed an outstanding double-pivot, and instant connection, with fellow veteran midfielder Renan Garcia. He completed 60 of 65 passes, 17 of which were attempted in the final third, and was five of six duels. For Vancouver FC manager Afshin Ghotbi, it was an example of why he was the exact profile of player the club has needed in its midfield, and who will provide crucial help for Garcia, and Vasco Fry when the latter returns from suspension. “We struggle in maintaining possession, we struggle sometimes linking the backline to our strikers,” said Ghotbi. “We struggle to change sides with the right game tempo that we’re looking for. And we saw how, for example, Olivier in his first game with us, only a few days training how, I think he had 92 per cent pass accuracy, long passes six out of seven. And that’s what our league needs. We need more players like that to give a team a chance to possess the ball.”

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Vancouver FC: Irving; Gee, Romeo, Enyou, Crawford; Bitar, Rommens, Garcia, Cantave; Dyer, Díaz

Cavalry FC: Carducci; Aird, Klomp, Montgomery, Kamdem; Trafford, Gutiérrez, Camargo; Wähling, Henry, Warschewski

ALL-TIME SERIES

Vancouver FC wins: 0 || Cavalry FC wins: 5  || Draws: 2

Last meeting:

June 16, 2024 — Vancouver FC 0-0 Cavalry FC

KEY QUOTES

“We started the season off winning all the games at home, and couldn’t get results on the road, and then we start winning on the road, and we cannot get results at home. So it’s a mystery, to be honest, of the psyche within my group, and the consistency that we’ve been searching for and looking for.”— Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi

“I know they have some quick wingers, and we know Fraser [Aird] likes to get involved early, so I think we just need to step out to them, be aggressive and limit their opportunities inside our box.”— Vancouver FC fullback Paris Gee

“They’re a team that’s above us, so we know that we need to go there with a way to win a football match, and I’m sure they’re going to try and change their fortunes. So I don’t think it’ll be a boring game, that’s for sure.” — Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.