PREVIEW: Cavalry FC vs. Forge FC – Match #28

This is it – the Spring portion of the 2019 CPL season could come down to this final bout between the top two teams in the table, as a perfect 7-0-0 Cavalry FC host a Forge FC team needing nothing less than a win to preserve any hope of salvaging this opening stanza of the campaign. We've gone through the permutations, we've seen more results midweek, and now, with 21 points at the top of the Spring table, Cavalry is just one single point away from taking the first of two berths for the 2019 CPL Championship – which means a draw is what they'll need, at minimum, to clinch that spot early, before the season resets on Canada Day, July 1. The Cavalry supporters group Foot Soldiers is already eagerly anticipating the potential Spring decider at Spruce Meadows in what is the team's final home match of the Spring, but you can be sure that Forge FC – who need two wins in their final two matches of this 10-match sprint, coupled with Cavalry losing out – will look to play spoilers on the day to keep their hopes alive. There's history here, already; they've met plenty of times before, with Cavalry even getting the better of Forge over two legs of Canadian Championship action. You can be sure Forge's crop of talented players haven't forgotten about that, either. So, giants clash at Spruce Meadows, with everything to play for and nothing to lose. Canadian club soccer, at its finest, wouldn't you say? KEYS TO THE MATCH

• Show the love: There's no need to be your own worst enemy here if you're Forge FC – that means keeping the mistakes to a minimum when it comes to set piece or, worse yet, penalty concessions. Cavalry has already gotten under Forge's skin with late dramatics from both of those moments, so keeping them at bay means preventing those mistakes.
• Who wants it more?: When it comes down to it, this is crunch time for both teams, but even if Cavalry loses this one ... all it takes is a draw or a win in any of their other two matches to clinch the Spring title. Forge doesn't quite have that same luxury; as such, this match could very well come down to which of the two teams shows more hunger over 90 minutes.
• Stick to basics: Cavalry doesn't have to do anything differently here. They've already gotten the better of Forge over three matches, and have been literally perfect all season. If Tommy Wheeldon Jr.'s side can stick to the fundamentals – and get a red-hot Sergio Camargo involved in the play – the result, and the Spring title, could be theirs.

Cavalry FC: Marco Carducci; Malyk Hamilton, Jay Wheeldon, Dominick Zator, Dean Northover; Elijah Adekugbe, Julian Buscher, Sergio Camargo; Dominique Malonga, Jordan Brown, Nico Pasquotti

Forge FC: Triston Henry; Dominic Samuel, Daniel Krutzen, Bertrand Owundi, Kwame Awuah; Alexander Achinioti Jonsson, Elimane Cisse, Kyle Bekker; Tristan Borges, Chris Nanco, David Choiniere



1. Will the team with more possession win? Typically the home side tends to dominate the match in terms of possession. This coupled with the higher seeded team being at home for 2 out of the 3 matches this weekend means that it's a safe bet for teams such as Cavalry and Pacific to both win and have more possession. 2. Which team's goalie will claim more crosses? Simply put, goalies who tend to make more saves tend to have to do more work during the match. Meaning that a goalie such as York9's Nate Ingham, who leads the league in saves, is much more likely to be claiming crosses. 3. Will an outfield player have a 100% pass accuracy? While this may sound like a very hard achievement to come by, 3 players in this week's York9/Edmonton match managed to do so. All players came into the match late as a substitution, providing them with a lesser chance of having passes go array.

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