2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #39
Halifax Wanderers vs. Cavalry FC
June 17, 2023 at 12 p.m. MT/3 p.m. AT
Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, Nova Scotia
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The last time the Halifax Wanderers and Cavalry FC met, they were two sides desperate for a win.
Coming in week five of the CPL season at Cavalry’s ATCO Field, both teams entered that match without a victory to their names, having each drawn four games apiece at that stage of the campaign.
Fittingly, however, that game then ended in a draw, albeit an entertaining 2-2 one, leaving both sides to have to wait for that first win.
Now, as they get set to meet again at Halifax’s Wanderers Grounds on Saturday, both teams now enter this game having found a bit of form since then. On one side, Cavalry has won two and drawn one of their last four games since that meeting, while the Wanderers are fresh off winning their first game of the season this past weekend.
Not only that, but both teams are coming off arguably their best performances of the season, too, meaning that they’ll enter this game full of confidence.
Plus, with a tightened table, especially between fourth and eighth place, this game could help either side stake out an advantage in the race toward the playoffs, which might be far away, but is starting to take shape through nine weeks of action. Of course, at this stage of the campaign, that’ll be far from the minds of managers, who will be focused on finding consistency in their performances.
At the same time, a good run of form now can go a long way towards making one’s fortunes down the line, so they’ll know the value of picking up wins early on in the season.
Otherwise, this will be a good opportunity for both teams to either continue a trend, or buck one, depending on one’s perspective. For Cavalry, they’ll look to maintain their dominance in this matchup, having only lost to the Wanderers once in their history, while for those Wanderers, the goal is simple – it’s time to double that win total against their foes from Calgary.
Two teams that like to play on the front foot, it should make for an intriguing battle, as they try to find some consistency as they both prepare to hit the 10-game mark in their CPL campaigns.
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3 THINGS TO WATCH
- Holding onto leads a big priority for both sides: Usually, one would say that the team that manages to grab a lead in this game is set to gain a pretty big advantage, given how little teams usually relinquish those at the top level. Yet, that memo clearly hasn’t gotten to either Cavalry or Halifax this season, given that the Wanderers have given up four leads, while Cavalry has given up six of their own. That means between them, they’ve dropped over 20 points from winning positions, which over the course of a season, can certainly add up quickly. Therefore, it’ll be intriguing to see if either team is able to hold onto a lead this time around. It was a struggle in their last matchup, as both teams ended up relinquishing leads in an entertaining 2-2 draw, but given how far they’ve come since then, both sides will fancy their chances of winning if either of them are to grab the first goal in this game.
- Will Halifax be able to maintain defensive tweaks? A big reason why the Wanderers were able to grab their first victory of the season last week? Their defensive play, as they hardly gave up much in a 2-0 win over Valour. In particular, they did well to weather a few dangerous moments in the game, especially while up 1-0, which allowed their offence to eventually find a second goal, the first time all year in which they were able to carve out a two-goal lead in a game. Because of that, look for the Wanderers to try and maintain that defensive solidity in this game. There’s no doubt that last week’s game was a taste of what’s to come offensively, as they’ve been underperforming their chance creation metrics all season long, but they’ll also feel that clean sheet was a sign of what they can do defensively. Plus, thanks to their strong defensive performance, they were able to buy time for their attackers to chip away and grab a second, whereas in past games they might’ve been prone to allowing a cheap goal while chasing that crucial insurance marker. Therefore, look for the Wanderers’ defence to step up big once again. Led by Yann Fillion in goal, who was commanding against Valour, they’ll look for contributions from everyone in front of him, especially in midfield, as they remain committed to defending as a team.
- Cavalry looking to build on offensive outburst: There’s no doubt that this Cavalry side can score goals. Given that they’ve got the CPL’s co-leading scorer in their ranks, Myer Bevan, and an early MVP candidate in Ali Musse, as well as key attacking pieces such as Sergio Camargo, Mikaël Cantave, Joe Mason and many more, this is a team that can be fun to watch when they click. Yet, despite that, they haven’t always been able to put it together this season. Until last week, that is, when they put up three goals in a 3-1 win over Vancouver. At first, that might not seem like much, but it was actually just the first time all season that Cavalry has scored more than two in a match, showing the importance of that game for them. Therefore, look for them to try and build on that. Given that this outburst was enough to vault them into second in the league in terms of goals for, they’ll now want to prove that was no fluke, as they try to get those goals to start falling on a more regular basis going forward. “We’ve been creating chances and I think we can be better at finishing them,” Cavalry head coach, Tommy Wheeldon Jr noted this week. “I think our attack, when it’s on fire, there’s a depth to it, there’s a dynamism to it, there’s creativity, but we just need to get over that hump.”
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Halifax Wanderers: Fillion; Campagna, Nimick, Louhgrey, Ruby; Callegari, Omar, Watson; Daniels, Coimbra, Ferrin (4-3-3)
Cavalry FC: Carducci; Alarcón, Chima, Klomp, Kamdem; Trafford, Kozba; Musse, Camargo, Escalante; Bevan (4-2-3-1)
ALL-TIME SERIES
Cavalry FC wins: 8 || Halifax Wanderers wins: 1 || Draws: 4
Last meeting:
May 13, 2023 – Cavalry FC 2-2 Halifax Wanderers
KEY QUOTES
“You have to put everything into perspective. We looked at it, and we were unbeaten in our first six, and even through nine games, only one team beat us and that was York United away, by one goal. We’re mixing it with anyone that we’re playing against, we’ve now just got to kill teams off. We’re evolving as a team, though, we are trying things differently, we’re learning to play against the low block and how to defend against the counter. These are things that caused peril to us near the end of last season, so we’re learning that early in this season, as I’d sooner go through that suffering now so that perhaps we can get the joy later in the season..” — Cavalry head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr
