✍️ Ivan Sørensen

Welcome to this week's issue of Wandering the Tides, our weekly column about the results in Halifax football.

The Wanderers

It has felt like we have seen a lot of Forge lately, and this week was no exception with the second regular season game against them. The last two outings were hardly what anyone wanted, with a 1-3 loss in the regular season and being eliminated from the Canadian Championship to boot.

So what could be salvaged from an away trip to Hamilton?

Well, in the end, a 0-1 loss and a trip back home. Kind of grim, really, when you think about it. However, here at Wandering the Tides we are nothing if not relentlessly optimistic, and I think the result actually does cover up some bright moments. The team looked better in possession — and had a fair bit more of it, actually sitting on the ball more than their counterparts — something that was not the case last time they met in the regular season.

The boys also held their own in shots taken, producing 11 in the game with a few saves forced. It can feel very demoralizing, but on the day Forge only took four more shots and only one of those actually produced a goal.

Now, people will point out that scoring has been a problem, and remains one. In three outings against Forge, the grand total has been one goal, from a penalty. But it's not like anyone else is running up the numbers against Forge either. That one penalty goal represents 25% of the goals Forge has conceded in 10 games.

So I don't know. This was not the result that was needed, but at the same time going toe to toe and coming away with only a single goal conceded — in a season that has seen 14 — is maybe not the end of the world either.

Hopefully the week off gets used to reset and continue working on things.

The Tides

After a week off, it was straight into heavy action as the Tides played on the 13th and again on the 18th.

The Saturday affair against Calgary was a pretty spirited outing, gaining a 2-0 win and three very welcome points. You might get greedy and argue that surely they should have scored more, but with the team playing a player down for half an hour, I think this is a pretty good result, and three points is three points no matter how you come by them.

And it is not like Calgary laid down and gave up in this game. It is easy to dismiss a team that isn't doing well, but they threw themselves at the Tides time and time again. The shot count was almost even, but a better-structured defence did the trick.

Vallerand said after the game: "Proud of how we came out in the second half. That was a team effort. We needed the win, and unfortunately we had to play a player down, but we didn't let that dictate the rest of the game."

Meanwhile, a Thursday morning home game in front of a lively crowd of local schoolchildren saw the team try to wrestle a result out of Vancouver. The history of these two clubs has been a one-sided one, with a loss back in May and a 2025 campaign seeing two losses and three draws, so the team must have been eager to make a statement to the contrary.

The result was a scrappy and often somewhat chippy game, with both teams going at it and the Tides having quite a few more shots on target during the game. A second-half goal from the Rise made it an uphill affair, but the pressure secured a goal in the last minute of regulation time from Vallerand, sending the visitors home with a draw. Victory over the Rise continues to elude, but I think both teams can take a point and call it satisfactory.

Defender Weichers said afterwards: "Going down a goal is never easy, but our team showed a lot of mental resilience to get back in the game. Especially in front of our awesome home crowd!"

Standings

With Vancouver putting another win under their belt, Halifax drops to 7th in the standings, two points behind both Vancouver and Supra.

The good news is that the 26th sees a home game against Pacific. I think it's all hands on deck to get a win here and then lock in for Ottawa the week after, especially since it will be back-to-back home games.

The Tides sit at a pretty comfortable 3rd place, racking up four points from the two games. Four points behind Ottawa is tantalizingly close, and the next game is a trip to Calgary on the 27th. With the Tides likely to secure three points and the Roses facing a tough game against Ottawa, they probably won't make 2nd place next match day, but they could be within touching distance of it.