Welcome back to Wandering the Tides, where we take a look at Halifax football. All the pundits are taking stock after the World Cup, so I thought I would take a moment to take stock as well.

The Wanderers

Beating up on Pacific has become a reliable way of picking up points in the league, and the trip to Starlight Stadium brought three more as Tavio Ciccarelli and Lorenzo Callegari both scored in a 2-1 win over the struggling club.

The result means Halifax now finds themselves in a very welcome fourth place in the standings with 15 points after 13 games. That's enough to sit in playoff contention, which was surely the pre-season expectation, but not enough to feel particularly secure, which was certainly a concern heading into the season.

Have the attacking issues been resolved? Seventeen goals scored is slightly ahead of Supra and about on par with Ottawa. Then again, Supra is a brand-new roster and this year's Ottawa side is hardly the powerhouse it was last season.

Is this level of performance enough to reach the top spots? Probably not, because Cavalry and Forge are showing no signs of budging, and I think there's little chance of making up that much ground now. But then again, maybe it doesn't have to be. I think the realistic expectation was to be a contender in the middle of the pack this year, and if the club can close out the season well, Sartini can continue building his project with an eye toward the future.

Isaiah Johnston and Tavio Ciccarelli have both scored five goals, with Callegari contributing two, while Sow, Kachwele, and Arilla have each scored once. (If you're wondering why the numbers don't add up, Pacific kindly contributed two own goals to the team's tally.)

Defensively, 20 goals conceded is right in the middle of the pack as well. You can drive yourself mad trying to figure out which matches could have been drawn or won if just one fewer goal had been conceded.

The real question at this point, with the Canadian Championship going on without the Wanderers, is less whether they are in the position they want to be in and more whether they are in the position they need to be in.

There are still 15 matches to play, and the battle for third and fourth place will be intense, especially now that Vancouver is no longer a paper tiger.

The team won't be back on the pitch until the 18th, when they travel to face the mighty Cavalry. Fingers crossed they'll be ready.

The Tides

Toronto is turning out to be a bit of a bogey team this season, with the last encounter against the Tides ending in a 1-0 defeat. It was a bit of a low point after only beating Calgary by one goal the week before, but when we step back and look at the bigger picture, the team sits in fourth place. Ten matches with 14 points is already two points behind the entire 2025 season's total.

Fifteen games are left to play, so if the pace keeps up, another 18-20 points are within reach. Some solace can be taken in Calgary seemingly being unable to make any ground, and with a Vancouver team struggling this season, the Tides have a chance to cement their position.

The goal count stands at 13 for and 9 against, though this is a bit deceptive due to some of the beatdowns against Calgary. I think the squad plays with far more energy and confidence than we ever saw last year, but there is still much work to be done in order to match either the heavy offensive push of Montreal or the mechanical efficiency of Ottawa.

Miller and Vallerand have accounted for four goals each, while Benati and Rhodes have added two apiece, with Weichers scoring once. Vallerand deserves a special mention here because the team benefits tremendously from a player who can contribute in attack while also helping defensively. A player like that allows the team to commit numbers forward when an overload is possible without sacrificing stability at the back.

The fact that only one team has conceded fewer goals this season is a testament to the approach working.

The next matchup is against Montreal, a game in which the Tides will be pushed hard, but also an opportunity to make a statement about what kind of contender they will be during the middle stretch of the season.