CanPL Power Rankings: Valour climbs and Pacific dips as Atlético Ottawa stays red-hot at the top | Presented by tonybet
The quarter-mark of the CPL season has come and gone, as all eight teams have played at least seven regular season matches as of this past weekend.
With Forge and the Halifax Wanderers the lone two sides not to play each other yet, it means everyone else has gotten a taste of the rest of their league foes, giving them an idea of how they stack up early on.
Because of that, it’s a great time to assess the standings to see who is in form and who is struggling.
Now, a pivotal stretch awaits them all as teams start to face each other for a second and third time, which can lead to intriguing matchups, especially when factoring a team's start into play. A side that has accumulated early points might start to get comfortable, while a side that’s struggling might start to play desperately, leading to some chaotic matches.
This most recent weekend saw that play out, as a red-hot Atlético Ottawa came from down 2-0 against a struggling Halifax Wanderers team to earn a 2-2 draw in a match that summed up both teams' start to the year, for example.
With that in mind, here’s a look at who’s trending up, and who’s heading the wrong way, in the Power Rankings presented by tonybet.
>At this point, nearly everything Atlético Ottawa has touched in CPL play has turned gold. A dominant victory against Forge two weeks prior was followed up by their late heroics against Halifax this past weekend, as they turned a less-than-stellar performance into a point. And that’s been their biggest achievement so far this year - they’re turning good performances into points, but they’ve also had a knack of turning those lacklustre performances into points, too. That can often be the difference between finishing first and fifth, as good teams find a way to get points on the board even when they don’t bring their best stuff. For Ottawa, they can thank a talented group of game-breakers and a never-say-die mentality, which manifested itself this past weekend.
GOAL 🏡🏡
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 2, 2024
ALBERTO ZAPATER LEVELS IN THE 101ST MINUTE 🤯@AtletiOttawa rescue a point in the last possible second vs. @HFXWanderersFC as this one ends 2-2 💥
🔴 Watch #CanPL on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/Xk7hI1lq07
>It’s Groundhog Day for Cavalry FC, again. Much like at the start of 2023, they’re not winning games, but they’re not losing them, either, sitting with a record of 1W-6D-1L through eight games. The Power Rankings algorithm likes their ability to pick up points, but Cavalry are starting to get frustrated with their draws, a sentiment Daan Klomp shared after their latest tie, a 1-1 result against Pacific. Despite that, Cavalry will need to stick to their process, as their underlying numbers have been good. They just need a statement win to rally themselves around. Convenient timing to note that Forge is coming to Calgary this weekend - that’d be the perfect game to win and give an emotional lift if Cavalry’s to get out of this draw slump.
>Vancouver FC continues to be quite good at home and inconsistent on the road, as they showed in the last two weeks with a statement 2-1 win at home over Pacific in the Salish Sea Derby, which they then followed up with a 2-0 road loss to Valour in their home opener. At the same time, they still sit second, and they’ve followed the formula they need to in order to make the playoffs - win at home, and pick up points on the road. With 10 of their points coming in four home games, and the other three coming up in four away games, they’ve certainly done that. Now, they’ll want to slightly improve their road form, with a stretch of road games awaiting them, giving them leeway if their home form slips down the road.
>As of late, there hasn’t been a better confidence booster for Forge FC than playing rivals York United in the 905 derby, and they showed that this weekend in a dominant 3-0 win, which helped put back-to-back losses against Ottawa and Vancouver behind them. Now, a big month awaits Forge, who slipped in large part due to their Canadian Championship commitments, but with the semi-finals of that tournament not coming until July, Forge can put full focus on the CPL for the next while. Still tied for second with a game-in-hand, they sit in a pretty good position, all things considered, so don’t be surprised if they climb back up these rankings (which are only based on CPL play) by the end of the month.
GOAL 🔨🔨🔨
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 1, 2024
It's three for @ForgeFCHamilton! Daniel Parra finishes off a great build-up from the Hammers to triple the lead 🟠
Watch #CanPL on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/KuHIADztEv
>After a slow start, Valour FC are starting to find form, and no better time to do so having survived a marathon seven-game road trip. Having picked up seven points in their last three games, coming off a big 2-0 win over Vancouver in their home opener, they’re trending in the right direction at a key moment, with 13 of their last 20 games coming at home, giving them the chance to push up the table. Thanks to a change in formation and the return of some key players, they’ve turned some solid early-season performances into some well-deserved results, and can now use the next month as a launching pad with four of their next five coming at home.
GOAL 🎖️🎖️@ValourFootball go up 2-0 vs. @VanFootballClub in our @tonybet_Canada MOTW after Miki Cantave whiffs on a shot to lead to a quick counter-attack for a chipped finish by Jordi Swibel
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 3, 2024
🔴 Watch #CanPL on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/oDfTE2Jdd5
>Much like Forge, Pacific FC have felt the toll of the Canadian Championship this past month, as they’ve now gone four straight without a win. Therefore, while they’re eagerly looking forward to a date in the semi-finals, this next stretch will be crucial for them in league play. Given that they’ve had a home-heavy schedule to start the year, that makes their recent string of results more frustrating for them, as they now must head out on three straight road games. The good news is that they’ve looked much better offensively as of late, and are continuing to be solid defensively, which should give them a chance of winning each of those road games if they want to push back up the table, having slipped to fourth in their slump.
>After a special and emotional win over Halifax at home to kick off the post-Martin Nash era under interim head coach Mauro Eustáquio, York United came down to earth in their road loss to Forge. Now, however, with a new head coach set to be announced this week, this will be an opportunity for a reset for York. Having been a strange start to the season for them between Nash’s departure, a swath of injuries and more, this could be the sort of refresh they need to find their feet once again. To York’s credit, they either win games or lose them - thanks to that, they’ve got more points than Cavalry - but it’s also frustrating as one can only wonder how they’d look if they could be more consistent. Perhaps, that’ll be something the new manager looks to bring in from day one.
>The Halifax Wanderers' struggles continued this weekend, as they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory after allowing a 90+11’ equalizer from Ottawa, having once led that match 2-0, leaving them still without a win in 2024. Yet, that match sums up the Wanderers' season to date, as they actually had a pretty good performance and scored two well-worked goals against Ottawa, but then threw it all away by taking their foot off the gas pedal at the wrong time. At the same time, it shows that the Wanderers' slump is going to only be fixed by some internal reflection (which is perhaps why they tried to jolt the team with a surprise trade last week), as it’s hard to say that the Wanderers are getting thoroughly out-played every week. They’re yet to lose a game by more than two goals, and their last four matches have either been draws or one-goal losses, so they’re there in games, but just need to be more ruthless and clinical. As a result, this will be a good test of the Wanderers' mettle, as they didn’t face adversity like this last year, which is why some wondered how they might fare if a slump like this happened. So far, it hasn’t gone great for Halifax, but it’s still early enough to turn things around, even if things have gotten more bleak each week for them.
