HIGHLIGHTS: Cavalry FC vs. Forge FC (August 12, 2022)

Cavalry got back into the win column on Friday night, beating Forge FC 2-1 at home after a 90th-minute winner from Miki Cantave.

Just like the last time these teams met a few weeks ago, Cavalry striker Joe Mason scored an early goal to give the home team the lead. While in late July it was a header from a first-minute corner, tonight it was Mason scoring with his foot seven minutes after kickoff.

After a big tackle from Karifa Yao to win back the ball for Cavalry, Sergio Camargo passed the ball to Jose Escalante. The Honduran attacker took a few touches before playing a long, high pass into the box, which was met by the Englishman. Mason flung himself at the ball, volleying it as he dived feet first toward Triston Henry’s net, and beat the Forge goalkeeper with a fantastic one-touch finish.

Cavalry got some momentum from the goal, spending most of the opening 45 minutes on the front foot, outshooting Forge 5-3, and 2-0 for shots on target.

Charlie Trafford, Sergio Camargo, and Mason all took shots at Henry, with the latter two hitting the target, but Henry was able to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

Forge also had a couple of chances, from Garven Metusala and David Choiniere, but both failed to hit the target. Choiniere’s looked the most promising — a shot from the edge of the penalty area — but he seemed to hesitate on how he wanted to shoot the ball, and ended up missing the target high and wide.

Moments before the interval Escalante nearly scored a goal of his own, beating the Forge defensive wall with a free kick, but his effort sailing just wide of the post. Escalante won the foul that lead to the free kick, as Triston Henry brought him down outside the penalty area, but was only given a yellow card for the tackle.

Cavalry took a deserved 1-0 lead into the break, after 45 minutes of both teams knocking on the door, and Mason’s clinical opener.

It was the other Mason, centre-back and captain Mason Trafford, that nearly doubled the lead moments after halftime for Cavalry with an acrobatic effort. After a free kick into the box from Escalante, Trafford had his back to goal and attempted an audacious bicycle kick, but his effort sailed just over the bar.

Cavs goalkeeper Marco Carducci kept his clean sheet intact in the 63rd minute, charging out of his net and diving forwards to stop a low shot from Woobens Pacius — July’s CPL Player of the Month, and one of the most in-form strikers in the league at the moment. Carducci denied another shot from a similar position a few minutes later, and his side remained in the lead.

After continuing to knock on the door with chance after chance, Forge finally found their equalizer in the 82nd minute. After Tristan Borges danced around a defender, he laid it off to Jordan Hamilton, who fired it into the bottom right corner to make it 1-1. It was just Hamilton’s second appearance for the club since signing a week ago, and his first goal in the Canadian Premier League.

Cavalry’s Miki Cantave scored his first CPL goal moments later, tapping the ball in from a couple of yards out. A deep cross into the box was met at the back post by the head of Jose Escalante, who centred the ball for Cantave, who made no mistake from inside the six-yard box. He wheeled away in celebration, as his first CPL goal earned his team all three points.

After four losses in five matches coming into this match, it was a huge win for Cavalry, who jump into second place behind Forge with a deserved three points.

BOX SCORE

Goals

7′ — Joe Mason (Cavalry FC)

82′ — Jordan Hamilton (Forge FC)

90′ — Miki Cantave (Cavalry FC)

Discipline

41′ — Yellow: Triston Henry (Forge FC)

43′ — Yellow: Charlie Trafford (Cavalry FC)

48′ — Yellow: Joe Mason (Cavalry FC)

49′ — Yellow: Rezart Rama (Forge FC)

75′ — Yellow: Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC)

90′ — Miki Cantave (Cavalry FC)