I hope you have your coffee, tea, or other beverage of choice ready to go as we take a look at the Canadian Premier League: how it went, how it is going, and how it might go.

The games

15 goals in one weekend!

The weekend opened with the derby game between Vancouver and Pacific.

See if you have heard this one before: Pacific opens up with a mid-first-half lead before losing the three points as their opponent equalizes. Yeah, I've heard that one before as well.

At least it took until the 87th minute before Campbell was able to equalize, and Pacific did hold the otherwise high-flying Vancouver side to a tie.

I don't want to get too negative here, because they showed a good deal of fight, matching the Eagles shot for shot.

Saturday had one game, but it was one that we've all been waiting for: Cavalry vs. Forge. A home game for the Cavs and a chance to pass the table leaders and get into first? And a Forge side that has experienced an unexpected bit of frustration lately?

The first goal came, rather unexpectedly, from an accidental pass to a Forge player, resulting in the visitors being up a goal in the 20th minute. It looks rather funny, but if you look closely, you can see another player had moved away from where he was standing a moment before, leading to the errant pass.

It would be a long, hard day for Cavalry, but persistence paid off as they finished the game 2-1. Home victory!

Sunday then saw a victorious Ottawa in Laval with a 2-1 win over Supra. All three goals came in the second half, with Ottawa getting both of theirs in the last 10 minutes of regulation after a tough game to get there. Supra hung in there until the end, but Chrétien being sent off in stoppage time did not help any chances of a miracle comeback.

Finally, at York Lions Stadium, we saw a regular goal fest as Inter Toronto finished the first half 3-1, with Halifax only getting that far due to a penalty kick. The final tally would be 4-3 Toronto after a second-half rally from Halifax. A much-needed morale boost for Inter, no doubt.

The standings

Pacific (8th)

A tie takes Pacific to five points, with the club's only points having come from ties. Normally, a tie against a high-flying team can be a morale boost, but I am not sure if Pacific will get that when it is their recently terrible-but-now-good BC neighbours.

Pacific is going to Hamilton next, which must feel like going to Mordor. However, if there was a time for a bit of football magic against Forge, this is it.

Halifax Wanderers (7th)

A loss despite all the effort means second-worst in the table. It is a full 10 points from here to the playoffs, and I am not sure I am feeling that. Halifax will invite Vancouver to the coast on the 22nd. Will the fortress hold?

Inter Toronto (6th)

Slugging it out against Halifax got the points to get ahead of them in the table. Once the nerves have settled a little bit, they take on Supra on the 23rd in a game that should be very winnable. However, Supra does not give much away for free. Another home-field win, even if it is a scrappy one, would do wonders for home morale.

Supra du Québec (5th)

Coming out of the game with Ottawa second dampens the spirits a bit if the Quebecois want to reach the playoffs. They are on the road twice this week, taking on Forge in Hamilton on Wednesday and then Toronto, also away, on Sunday. This is the type of thing that determines the grit of a team. I suspect they will live up to it.

Atlético Ottawa (4th)

A timely win to keep the teams below them at bay, but the race against Vancouver is going to turn into a bit of a knife fight. Atlético gets to play Vancouver at home on Wednesday and then Cavalry away on Saturday. A six-point gain here would be monumental. Gaining zero would be pretty grim in the jostle for final positions.

Vancouver FC (3rd)

Have Eagles fans gotten tired of seeing themselves at this half of the table yet? I wager not. Nash's boys are on the road as well, with a Wednesday affair in Ottawa and a long haul to Nova Scotia on Saturday. Either game feels very winnable right now, and I can't be the only Eagle-enjoyer who's eyeing that it's only eight points to Forge, right?

Forge (2nd)

Forge has had a bit of a stumble in form, but they are hardly a side that takes anything lying down. Points are up for grabs against Supra on Wednesday and again against Pacific on Sunday. Both are home games, and the Hammers expect to dominate both.

I think results here are going to be pretty predictive of how much room Cavalry has to work with.

Cavalry (1st)

The refusal of Forge to just concede any goals has made it easy to forget that the lines separating the two teams in performance really are not very far apart at all. The Cavs get the benefit of kicking back for a bit, playing a single home game this week against an Ottawa side that they are pretty eager to put in a good performance against.

See you soon!