TOP 5 best moments from Round 1 of the 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship

The preliminary round of the 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship wrapped up on Wednesday night, with Forge FC and Valour FC winning their respective matches and moving on to the quarter-finals.

The Vancouver Whitecaps received a bye to the quarters as the reigning winners of the competition, and over the past two weeks seven other clubs have booked their tickets to the final eight -- Atlético Ottawa, Cavalry FC, CF Montréal, Forge FC, Valour FC, Vancouver FC, York United FC.

Here are five of the best moments from the first round.

CF Montréal knock out Toronto FC with late goal and shootout victory

With two Canadian Championship heavyweights meeting so early in the competition, all eyes were on BMO Field on April 30 for a clash of two great Canadian rivals.

After Tyrese Spicer's goal gave Toronto the lead again in the 74th minute, just four minutes after a Joel Waterman strike cancelled out the opening goal from Theo Corbeanu, it looked as though the Reds were going to move on to the quarter-finals. Giacomo Vrioni had other ideas, though, scoring an incredible volley in the 88th minute to tie the game and send it to a shootout.

Jonathan Sirois made a couple of saves in the shootout and Corbeanu slipped and skied his penalty, sending Montréal on to play CPL side Forge FC, who knocked them out of last year's competition. Toronto FC's chances of achieving anything significant this season, meanwhile, were seemingly gone in the blink of an eye.

Piepgrass banger at forefront of Cavalry's dominant Battle of Alberta return

The Battle of Alberta returned for the first time in three years last week, albeit with a new Edmonton team taking on CPL champions Cavalry FC as League1 Alberta's Edmonton Scottish United SC made the trip south from the Albertan capital for their first-ever Canadian Championship match.

Cavalry didn't hold back, scoring early and often in a 6-0 domination, the biggest victory of the preliminary round. Six different players scored for Cavalry, but the best goal unquestionably belonged to Max Piepgrass, who came off the bench and fired a rocket from over 30 yards out past the Edmonton netminder.

It was Piepgrass' first goal for the club, and one he and the club will hope he can build on as he looks to become a regular in Tommy Wheeldon Jr's matchday squads.

Vancouver FC advance for the first time with dramatic shootout win

In their first two seasons, Vancouver FC were eliminated in the preliminary round of the Canadian Championship, first by York United in 2023 and then by Cavalry FC last year.

On Tuesday they advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time, beating rivals Pacific FC at Starlight Stadium in the latest edition of the Salish Sea Derby. Former Tridents attacker Alejandro Díaz opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 34th minute, but Aly Ndom got Pacific back into it with a powerful free kick. Marco Bustos and Emmanuel Montejano both missed penalties for Pacific, giving another former Trident, David Norman Jr, the stage to convert his kick and send the Eagles through to the next round.

They will get another chance against the Cavs in the quarter-finals, set to play them over two legs with a spot in the final four on the line and a chance to make even more history.

York United tie their club-record margin of victory

When York United put five unanswered goals past Ligue1 Quebec champions FC Laval on Tuesday night, it matched the record for their biggest win in club history.

It now shares that crown with another dominant victory over a League1 Canada opponent, as the previous instance was a 5-0 win over League1 Ontario's Master's Futbol Academy back in 2021. Interestingly, Max Ferrari, who is in his sixth season now with York, scored late in the first half of both matches.

The Nine Stripes will be hoping that a big win in the cup can boost their form in the league, as they are winless in their last four CPL games. Getting players like Massimo Ferrin and Adonijah Reid on the scoresheet will hopefully give them a confidence boost as well, while Julian Altobelli continues to tear it up since re-joining the club this winter.

Valour avenge TSS defeat, set up date with high-flying Whitecaps

Two years after being played off the park at Swangard Stadium, Valour FC got another crack at League1 BC's TSS Rovers on Wednesday, and beat them 1-0 to advance to the quarter-finals. It wasn't as comfortable a victory as they were perhaps hoping for, but Valour took care of business in the end thanks to a second half strike from Diogo Ressurreição and a defensive effort that saw them grind out the victory.

Valour now move on to play the Vancouver Whitecaps in the quarter-finals, which will see the current Major League Soccer leaders and Concacaf Champions Cup finallists visit Winnipeg for leg one as the first MLS team to visit Princess Auto Stadium before they then travel to BC Place for leg two.

Those sides met in the preliminary round of the 2022 Canadian Championship, with the Whitecaps beating Valour 2-0 in Vancouver.