Welcome back to this week's installment of the CPL week in review, where we check in on the matches of the Canadian Premier League and take a look at the standings.
Grab your coffee or tea, get a comfortable chair, and let's have a look.
The games that were played
The football schedule was full as we had midweek games going on.
Supra took on Forge in Hamilton in a dramatic affair that ended up with five goals in total. The first half ended 2-2, but deep in the second 45, Forge managed to come through as Sadek scored the decisive goal. An impressive effort from the guests, and while a home win will do wonders for the Hammers' feelings about the season, I don't think they had counted on this being quite as tense an affair.
Meanwhile in the capital, the Eagles found their recent flight come to an abrupt halt as Atlético Ottawa bullied them into a staggering 4-0 win. Jean-Aniel Assi earned himself a brace in the process. Some days, things just don't go your way, and Nash's side weren't able to finish the chances they got.
We got a triple-header on Saturday:
Vancouver took the field again, this time in Nova Scotia, where the Wanderers played them to a rather more sedate 1-0 win. I'm not sure I would call it the most exciting game of football Halifax has ever played, but Vancouver was not creating much offensively either.
The other two games of the day were "must-win" affairs for the two leading teams in the league in the race for the Shield. Cavalry delivered a decisive 3-1 result against Ottawa with German Warschewski getting a brace in the process, while Forge ended up grinding it out until the 57th minute before scoring against Pacific for a final score of 2-0 — With Sadek finding the net again.
To close out week 18, Supra travelled to Ontario and came back with a point in a 1-1 draw, as Kwemi foiled the early lead Altobelli had created for Inter Toronto.
The standings
Pacific (8th)
Getting points out of Forge in Hamilton was always going to be a pretty steep hill to climb.
Inter Toronto (7th)
It looked like Altobelli might have been able to pull his club ahead of Supra, but this was not to be. With only one point earned and Halifax notching a win, Toronto finds themselves in seventh.
FC Supra (6th)
Two chances to get points on the board, but only one point was to be had.
Halifax Wanderers (5th)
It goes up, and it goes down. A win over the in-form Vancouver helps close the gap to the playoffs by quite a bit. Seven points is tough to make up, but not impossible.
Vancouver FC (4th)
With two opportunities slipping away, VFC finds themselves three points behind Ottawa. The position in the playoffs feels fairly secure, but things can change very quickly, and while I have certainly been cheering for what Nash has been able to build, I think the squad strength is still fragile.
Atlético Ottawa (3rd)
At this point of the race, Ottawa is looking at steady results to maintain the pace, really. Clawing their way to the top at this point might require an expenditure of effort that ends up leaving the squad frayed and tattered by the time push comes to shove in the postseason. Play it safe and keep pace?
Cavalry (2nd)
I predict the Shield race will go to the wire as the two clubs keep tussling it out with a point between them. With only two losses this season, Cavalry is in an incredibly strong position to strike when Forge stumbles next.
Forge (1st)
Conversely, Forge is back on top. Their position so often seems unassailable, but they are fighting it out for a one-point lead, and the Cavs have outscored them by seven goals so far.
Still, Bobby doesn't let anything go without a fight and very rarely makes mistakes.
The games to come
Friday the 28th, we will have Inter Toronto and Atlético Ottawa clash in the capital. As noted, Ottawa needs to keep pace, while the Nine Stripes are still hunting for a few morale-boosting statement wins to get them out of the basement.
Forge will travel to Laval to play Supra, who desperately need wins in plural.
Saturday is sure to be high drama as Vancouver visits Cavalry. The Cavs must get points out of this, while Vancouver has proven they can tweak the Albertans' noses from time to time.
Finally, Sunday is the long-distance game as Halifax travels all the way to BC, where Pacific will look to break a 28-game winless streak.
The number of games remaining is starting to dwindle, and the margin for error is narrowing with each passing week. You play each team four times in the regular season for a total of 28 games to get points from. If you are Pacific and need to get into the playoffs, that means you have 11 games left to find at least 22 points. Since you cannot assume that your competitors are getting zero points, the actual number is higher than this.
Football nerds will sometimes talk about a team being "eliminated from the playoffs". This usually means the point where it is actually impossible, as opposed to extremely unlikely, for a team to reach the playoffs if every remaining game goes exactly their way.
In the case of Pacific, if we say Vancouver receives no more points, Pacific needs 22 points, as I said. Since they have 33 possible points to get, they are not mathematically eliminated, but in practical terms? Well, miracles do happen.
.JPG)
