AGR's High Press: Diving into how Cavalry defeated Forge in 2024 CPL Final to lift first North Star Cup
The wait is over.
For the first time in their history, Cavalry FC have lifted the North Star Cup as Canadian Premier League playoff champions, as they defeated Forge 2-1 at ATCO Field this past weekend.
Always a dominant regular season side, having finished first in the table twice and second two other times in six CPL seasons, Cavalry had struggled to translate that success over to the playoffs.
This year, however, they changed that, as they managed to defeat Forge in the qualifying semi-final to reach their third-ever final, and then took care of business against that same Forge side to clinch their first playoff title.
Now, they’ve ensured that their team from the last two years is one of the best the league has seen, as they’ve now got a 2023 CPL Shield and 2024 North Star Cup to show for their efforts across the past two seasons.
Undoubtedly, they would have remained one of the top sides in league history without this North Star Cup, but it feels like they needed to win it to prove to both themselves and the rest of the league what they’re capable of. As a result, the win seemed to matter a bit more to Cavalry’s players and staff, with head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr, doing a good job of summing up how he was feeling after the game, noting that while “winning the Shield was harder, winning the North Star Cup was more fun.”
Yet, credit has to go to the work Cavalry put in ahead of this final to ensure they’d be as prepared as possible. As their performance on the day showed, they were ready for this moment and did what they needed to win, marking this moment style.
Here’s a look at how they did that.
Hot off the press:
To begin, the big thing that was clear with Cavalry’s set-up on the day was that they wanted to play extremely aggressively defensively, right from the first whistle.
Much as they did in the first playoff meeting between these two sides in the qualifying semi-final, they stuck with the same 4-2-3-1 that had worked so well in that win, electing not to make a single change from the 11 players they started in that game.
Despite that, they changed their approach defensively, as they were far more cautious in their semi-final meeting, something they tweaked for this final.
In particular, the one thing they looked to do was to press high up the pitch, ensuring that anytime Forge tried to build out from the back, they’d be welcomed by a wave of red shirts, like below.
Sitting in more of a 4-4-2 off the ball, their goal was to use their front two to funnel the ball out wide, where their midfield four would then push forward aggressively. There, that forced Forge to either play through traffic or hit the ball long, which ended up being to Cavalry’s advantage, as they won the ball back several times centrally, and dominated Forge aerially on those long balls.
It was a risky strategy for Cavalry to employ, given that Forge is a team that is very skilled and typically likes to build out of the back, but their gamble paid off. Had they failed, Forge could’ve played through them like butter, creating dangerous opportunities, but instead, they struggled heavily to find their rhythm on the ball in the first half. 
Their first-half offensive numbers show that - Forge completed just 75.7% of their first-half passes, were outshot 13-3, had just six touches in Cavalry’s box, and made just 19 final third entries to Cavalry’s 36. Then, defensively, the numbers also further show Cavalry’s dominance, as the hosts won 60% of their total duels (including 76% of their aerial duels), had eight tackles won to Forge’s five and made nine interceptions to Forge’s three.
Overall, it felt like Cavalry controlled the first half with their play off the ball, and that had an impact on the ball, as they were able to get into more dangerous areas in possession thanks to the way they were winning the ball up the pitch, like they did here.
Plus, most importantly, they didn’t panic with their chances, either. Despite playing an aggressive style of play defensively, they continued to be patient in possession, holding 51.7% of the ball in the first half, as they did a good job of circulating the ball when chances didn’t immediately materialize.
Through that, they were able to grab a foothold on this game early, and then turned that territorial dominance into a two-goal lead, one they never relinquished.
Certainly, Cavalry were made to work for their win in the second half - Forge started to hold way more possession as Cavalry began to sit back after using a lot of energy on their first-half press - but they were eventually able to hold onto their victory, with their hot start a big reason for that. 
Shamit Shome and Diego Gutiérrez’s big game:
When playing Forge, managing the midfield is crucial, as Forge can employ a dizzying group of players in central areas.
Just look at the group they started in this final - Alessandro Hojabrpour and Kyle Bekker are both CPL Player of the Year nominees, while Noah Jensen was arguably Forge’s breakout star this year.
Plus, that group didn’t even include the actual POTY, Tristan Borges, who started this game on the bench before entering in the first half.
Despite that, it didn’t bother Cavalry, who have a formidable group of their own, with the pair of Shamit Shome and Diego Gutiérrez stepping up as the preferred pair in Tommy Wheeldon Jr’s midfield double-pivot for this game.
Even though neither are traditional defensive midfielders, both sitting as more box-to-box profiles, they’ve meshed together perfectly, using their box-to-box attributes to ensure Cavalry can go toe-to-toe with other midfields without needing a third body to help defend.
Thanks to that, it freed up Sergio Camargo to roam more aggressively as a #10, which paid dividends in this final - Camargo ended up scoring Cavalry’s eventual game-winner with a marauding run into the box.
Yet, credit has to go to Shome and Gutiérrez, as they were essential on both sides of the ball for Cavalry in this final, helping do a lot of dirty work to help their team shine.
To begin, there’s Shome, who was arguably Cavalry’s Player of the Match in this final. In particular, he was a machine defensively, doing well to play right on top of Forge’s midfielders, ensuring they wouldn’t have any time to combine in possession.
Just look at this clip, where he did well to block off a passing lane to Forge's Kyle Bekker, forcing a turnover from Dominic Samuel.
His defensive numbers give an idea of the sort of shift he put in - he finished with four tackles won, two clearances, four interceptions, three recoveries and won eight of 11 duels in a commanding defensive showing.
He also did some important work on the ball, too, finishing with 20 out of 27 passes, including four passes into the final third, one shot, one chance created and two long balls, but there’s no doubt that his best work came off the ball. 
(All of Shome's actions from this game via OPTA.)
Meanwhile, Gutiérrez put in a pretty good shift defensively, too - he had one tackle won, two clearances, two interceptions, six recoveries and won five of nine duels - but he really shone in possession, completing 35 of 38 passes, creating two chances, also completing one shot and five passes into the final third.
In particular, he did well to cycle the ball forward to Cavalry’s wingers, Ali Musse and Jay Herdman, while pushing forward to offer support whenever possible. 
(All of Gutiérrez's actions from this game via OPTA.)
Thanks to the play of these two, Cavalry were able to not just hold their own in the midfield battle but ended up dominating it, as Hojabrpour, Bekker and Jensen had far from their usual impact on the day.
For Cavalry to play on top of Forge as they did out of possession, they needed to be solid in the middle of the park, something Shome and Gutiérrez certainly were in this one.
Tobias Warschewski shows all-around impact:
Heading into this game, a lot of attention was paid to Tobias Warschewski, as many were looking at him to be one who would need to step up if his side were to win.
To his credit, he’d done that in recent weeks - he scored five goals in Cavalry’s last three regular season games to ensure them a top-two spot, and then scored the lone goal in Cavalry’s win over Forge in the qualifying semi-final.
But then, he took that to another level in this final, as he ended up arguably putting together his best performance yet, racking up a goal and an assist.
First, he opened the scoring with a penalty that he won, as his ability to constantly get on the ball in the box eventually paid off.
GOAL 🐴@CPLCavalryFC LEAD IN THE FINAL! Golden Boot winner Tobias Warchewski opens the scoring from the spot after Dom Samuel brought him down inside the penalty box ⚽️
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) November 9, 2024
Watch the #CanPL final LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/3KJ9ZWkMQG
Then, he played provider on Camargo’s goal, setting up his teammate with a nice through ball, doing well to spot the run Camargo made into the box on the play.
GOAL 🐴🐴@CPLCavalryFC HAVE TWO!!!! Sergio Camargo slots his shot past Jassem Koleilat to double the home side’s lead, and it’s looking like it’ll be a party at ATCO Field today 🔥
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) November 9, 2024
Watch the #CanPL final LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/069KgnQSfV
Yet, as is usually the case with Warschewski, his goal contributions were but a fraction of the important work he did for Cavalry on the day.
For example, in possession, he drifted all over the pitch, causing all sorts of problems for Forge’s defenders with his movement. Despite that, he was quite secure on the ball - he finished the game by completing 13 out of 14 passes, as he also completed four out of six dribbles, had two out of two long balls and won three fouls.
That gave Cavalry a reliable outlet - no matter where he popped up, they knew that if they found him on the ball, he’d make something happen, be it with a shot (of which he had three on the day), his hold-up play, or his link-up play.
From there, that opened up space for his teammates, too - something that Herdman, Camargo and Musse all benefitted from, in particular. 
For all of the work Warschewski did on the ball, however, he also put in a big shift defensively, especially in terms of leading Cavalry’s press. He didn’t win any of his three tackles, but he had one clearance, one interception, one recovery and seven defensive actions.
Plus, he did well to occupy Forge’s defenders on both sides of the ball - he contested a whopping 25 duels in this game, which led players on both teams. He won less than 50% of those duels, winning 12 of 25, but that won’t matter as he kept them occupied, which is what he wanted to do.
But that’s the beauty of Warschewski’s fit in this system - he is talented enough to be a key piece, one who can step up with goals and assists in big moments, but also knows how to be selfless and open up space for his teammates with his physical play and movement.
He showed both sides of his game in this final, and that ended up playing a big role for Cavalry in their win.
