HIGHLIGHTS: Forge FC vs. Atlético Ottawa | CPL PLAYOFFS | Oct. 26, 2025

The 2025 CPL Final will be played in the nation's capital in two weeks, after Atlético Ottawa came from a goal down to beat Forge FC 2-1 at Hamilton Stadium in Sunday's Championship Semifinal.

For the first time since 2022, Atleti are Final-bound, thanks to a hard-fought win against a Forge side they had not yet beaten this season. Now, they're just 90 minutes away from lifting their first North Star Cup. Forge, meanwhile, have one more chance to get to a seventh straight Final, because they'll host either Cavalry FC or York United next Sunday, Nov. 2 in the Contender Semifinal.

Ottawa had the run of the game in the opening stanza, taking a massive advantage in possession over the first 20 minutes. They threatened a couple of times — including a Ballou Tabla shot from distance that came close to the bottom corner — but Forge did well to weather the storm and stay out of serious danger.

After the first 20 minutes, Forge settled into the game nicely; they managed to spend some more time on the ball and disrupt Ottawa's rhythm. The steady improvement culminated in the 23rd minute, when Forge showed their first flash of real aggression and opened the scoring. Centre-back Dan Nimick made a marauding run up the right side and played a give-and-go with David Choinière to get himself behind Atleti's backline.

Nimick put the ball across the box to Hoce Massunda at the far post, but the young winger couldn't quite sort out the angle and put it back across rather than on net. However, the confusion in front of goal meant Ottawa keeper Nathan Ingham couldn't trap the ball, getting a touch but letting it bounce loose, and Choinière arrived to smash it home before Ingham or defender Noah Abatneh could get to it.

The tally was Choinière's fourth career CPL Playoff goal, making him the league's all-time postseason scoring leader. The 28-year-old now has 12 goals for Forge in total in Canadian Championship, Concacaf and CPL Playoff action.

Ottawa, however, didn't need long to respond.

Ten minutes after the opening goal, Atleti overturned the ball in midfield and Loïc Cloutier launched a transition out wide to wing-back Gabriel Antinoro. The 21-year-old decided to do it all himself, dribbling into the box and nutmegging Forge right-back Rezart Rama before lifting a perfect shot from distance past Jassem Koleilat and into the top right corner.

The second half opened much as the first had ended, with both teams starting to stretch the pitch more. Forge tried to open the game up and get moving more vertically, and they made a couple of dangerous forays into the final third.

However, it would instead be Atleti who struck again next. What started as a fairly non-descript play saw Manny Aparicio pick the ball off a heavy touch by Kyle Bekker on the edge of Forge's box. Aparicio followed his own ball forward and got to it at the end line, cutting a perfect cross through the box to where CPL Golden Boot winner Sam Salter had several feet of space. Salter needed only to rise up and nod a header past Koleilat, giving Atleti a 2-1 lead in the 58th minute.

The clearest evidence that things were not going well for Forge came in the 70th minute, though, when Bobby Smyrniotis opted to take captain Kyle Bekker and veteran star Tristan Borges out of the game.

As one would expect, the Hammers pressed incredibly hard for an equalizer in the final 20 minutes of the match, throwing all they could toward the Ottawa penalty area. However, the game became extremely physical and chippy, as fouls from both sides prevented either from stringing together any lengthy attacking moves — which suited Ottawa just fine.

Despite eight full minutes of stoppage time, Atleti managed to keep the increasingly-desperate Forge attack quiet, clearing the ball well up the pitch whenever they could to prevent Forge from getting second or third attempts at goal from loose balls.

In the end, referee Carly Shaw-Maclaren whistled for full time, and Ottawa booked their spot in the Final, which will be played on Sunday, Nov. 9 at TD Place.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Forge FC: Koleilat; Rama, Nimick, Achinioti-Jönsson, Jevremović (Owolabi-Belewu 78'); Borges (Babouli 70'), Hojabrpour, Bekker (H. Paton 70'); Choinière (Ampomah 75'), Wright (Jensen 78'), Massunda

York United: Ingham; Mbomio, Abatneh, Cloutier (Duhaney-Walker 78'); Dos Santos, Castro (Sissoko 82'), Aparicio, Antinoro (Coulanges 89'); Rodríguez, Salter (Ennin 82'), Tabla (Zapater 89')

Goals

23' — David Choinière (Forge FC)
33' — Gabriel Antinoro (Atlético Ottawa)
58' — Sam Salter (Atlético Ottawa)

Discipline

32' — Yellow: Sam Salter (Atlético Ottawa)
52' — Yellow: Nana Ampomah (Forge FC)