RECAP + HIGHLIGHTS: Forge FC power past Halifax Wanderers; earn another CanChamp clash with CF Montréal

Forge FC are marching on in the 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship after a 3-1 victory over the Halifax Wanderers in the preliminary round on Wednesday night at Hamilton Stadium.

Forge now advance to play CF Montréal in the quarter-final. It is the fifth consecutive year that they have faced the MLS club, who they eliminated over two legs in this same round last year.

Mo Babouli had a pair for Forge, opening and closing the scoring. A Kareem Sow own goal resulted in the Hamilton club's other tally, while Thomas Meilleur-Giguère scored the lone goal for Halifax on the night.

Forge FC were instantly on the front foot, with two corners inside the opening three minutes. They forced Halifax goalkeeper Rayane Yesli to be incredibly alert, making a save on Babouli inside the opening minute.

Following that opening flurry, the two sides mostly split time on the ball, both looking to pick apart the opposing defence. Halifax looked to go long on a few occasions, but former Wanderer Dan Nimick, in particular, did a solid job of dealing with those situations.

Forge had an outstanding opportunity in the 16th minute, Tristan Borges broke down the left flank and found Babouli in the middle. His effort sliced into the path of David Choinière, who had time and space in close, but put his low effort off the outside of the post.

The hosts deployed an incredibly fluid front four, with Babouli playing essentially a free role and drifting across the pitch to create overloads, particularly on the right flank with Choinière. The movement created all sorts of issues for Halifax, as they were constantly being moved around by Forge's clever attackers.

In the 21st minute, Forge opened the scoring. A lovely one-two between Borges and Kyle Bekker saw the Forge captain played into the box down the left. He squared for Babouli, who smashed the ball past Yesli from close range to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Forge doubled their lead in the 26th minute. A Choinière cross into the box deflected off the head of Halifax defender Kareem Sow and past Yesli.

The visitors had a great chance to cut the lead in the 27th minute, as Giorgio Probo picked out Adam Pearlman alone in the box, but he couldn't get the proper contact to direct it on goal.

After being outplayed for most of the half, Forge's backline switched off on a corner kick in the 41st minute, and Halifax cut the lead to one. A lofted delivery from Giorgio Probo found a wide-open Meilleur-Giguère in the box, who headed it past Koleilat to make the score 2-1.

The goal came on just Halifax's fourth touch in the box of the match, showing how little they had generated up until that point.

Halifax forced a great save from Koleilat moments later as well, a rocket from outside the box from Rea, which the Forge keeper narrowly deflected over the bar. The Wanderers subsequently won another pair of corner kicks but didn't truly threaten on either.

Forge spent the rest of the half under siege, as Halifax looked to equalize before the half. In the end, Forge kept what felt like an increasingly narrow 2-1 lead going into the half.

The chances for both sides were more sparing to begin the second half. Halifax again looked to beat Forge's high line over the top, and Forge's Ben Paton was perhaps lucky to be only shown a yellow card in the 61st minute as he looked to be the last man when he brought down Jason Bahamboula.

Forge had perhaps the best chance in the early part of the second half, as Brian Wright did well to shield off Meilleur-Giguère and flick the ball into the path of Babouli at the top of the box. His strike curled wide of the post, however.

In the 77th minute, Forge won a free kick just outside the Halifax box on a handball. Bekker forced a good save from Yesli on a low curling strike.

The Hamilton club rather professionally saw out the match, holding onto the ball and denying Halifax any real opportunity in the second half. The Wanderers were limited to just 0.14 expected goals and no shots on target in the second half.

Forge put the match to bed in the late going, as in the first minute of stoppage time, substitute Nana Ampomah threaded a ball through on the counterattack to Babouli. The Forge attacker smashed home his second of the match to make it 3-1.

Halifax are still winless in 11 all-time trips to Hamilton Stadium, and failed to advance in the Canadian Championship for a third consecutive year. Forge, meanwhile, remain undefeated in regulation in Canadian Championship matches at the stadium.

The first leg of Forge's quarter-final against CF Montréal will be played on either May 20 or 21 at Hamilton Stadium. The second leg, at Stade Saputo, is scheduled for July.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Forge FC: Koleilat; Rama, Nimick, Achinioti-Jönsson, Paton; Hojabrpour, Bekker (Kane 90+3'), Borges (Jensen 75'); Choinière (Ampomah 75'), Babouli (Massunda 90+3'), Wright (Filion 87')

Halifax Wanderers: Yesli; Pearlman (Rampersad 76'), Meilleur-Giguère, Sow; Bahamboula (Baï 69'), Johnston (Mann 86'), Callegari (Biello 86'), Timoteo; Probo, Rea (Dias 69'), Telfer

Goals

22' -- Mo Babouli (Forge FC)
26' -- Kareem Sow (Halifax Wanderers) (Own Goal)
41' -- Thomas Meilleur-Giguère (Halifax Wanderers)
90+1' -- Mo Babouli (Forge FC)

Discipline

57' -- Yellow: Dan Nimick (Forge FC)
61' -- Yellow: Ben Paton (Forge FC)
74' -- Yellow: Kareem Sow (Halifax Wanderers)
82' -- Yellow: Noah Jensen (Forge FC)

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Mo Babouli, Forge FC

Playing something of a free role behind Brian Wright, Babouli was central to Forge's success on Wednesday night. He scored a brace on five shots, created a chance and won possession seven times.

What’s next?

Forge FC advance to take on CF Montréal in the home-and-away quarter-final. The first leg for that series will be played on May 20 or 21 at Hamilton Stadium. In league action, Halifax host Cavalry on Saturday, May 10 (6:30 p.m. AT, while Forge are back in action on Tuesday, May 13 (11:00 a.m. ET) in the school day game against top-of-the-table Atlético Ottawa.

Watch all 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship and CPL matches live on OneSoccer. In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.