Cavalry FC look ahead to next battle
Thursday was a day of bleeding for Cavalry FC.
A day to heal from the battle that was the Canadian Championship semifinal series and the elimination from the 13-team national tournament that came with Wednesday’s hard-fought loss at the hands of Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact, an established team with 12-odd times the salary than Calgary’s Canadian Premier League club.
“Marg Southern (team owner and Spruce Meadows matriarch) said once upon a time that you have a day to bleed and a day to celebrate,” said Cavalry GM and head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “Tomorrow we’ll bleed, and then we’ll get back to it Friday.”
That’s spot-on about the Cavs, who live to play another day despite the emotional loss.
In fact, as they hope to return to celebration mode on Friday night, when they host FC Edmonton in a top-of-the-table CPL match at ATCO Field (7 p.m., Onesoccer.ca).
The two teams are first and second in the league’s fall-season standings, with both teams on 11 points — Edmonton (3-1-2) technically tops, and Cavalry (3-0-2) right on the heels of its Alberta rivals. But for now, it’s a time of bloodletting after a frustrating yet proud end to the Cavs’ Canadian Championship run.
“How we’re feeling was shown on the face and in the comments of their players coming off the field (at the end of the game),” said Wheeldon Jr. “They’re celebrating because it was a close game. They’re celebrating coming here and taking it from us when we had them on their back foot.
“It was an honour to be in the fight. We wanted to create this professional football team for Calgary. We’ve done a great job, and the city is behind us.”
It sure was Wednesday night with a turnout of fans that backed the team in full throat, urging it to pull off the upset of the more entrenched MLS opponent with a bigger budget and a larger roster.
“We asked the fans to be in their seats early,” said Wheeldon Jr. “The reason being is as we grow this football culture in our country, if your fans are in their seats ready to welcome out the players like gladiators as they come into the arena, you can see the boys with their chests puffed up. I couldn’t thank the fans enough.”
He wasn’t the only one.
“I would like to congratulate everybody with the Cavalry FC for an amazing atmosphere. It was fantastic,” said Impact head coach Remi Garde. “The crowd and the support was perfect. I think it’s very great for Canadian soccer.” One to remember, for sure. “I liked what we were seeing from that crowd. It was just a really cool night to be at Spruce Meadows and to be a part of it,” said Cavalry veteran Mason Trafford. “We were ready, we were eager, we were hungry ... we had the belief that we were going to turn the tide.”
It felt like that early and even after the Impact got the only goal of the match, a header by Anthony Jackson-hamel off a corner kick in the 13th minute.
In fact, it’s amazing the hosts
didn’t at least score once, and that’s not to take away from the Impact defence, which was solid in the face of immense pressure game-long.
They had nearly 60 per cent of ball possession. They made 18 open-field crosses. They fired 18 shots at the net, including 11 from inside the penalty box. They had a whopping 12 corner kicks.
And they had at least a half-dozen long throw-ins find dangerous territory in front of the Impact net.
“For whatever reason, the ball wouldn’t go in, and you kind of look back and say, ‘Oh man, we were so close,’” Trafford said.
“On another night, we might’ve got a couple.”
On another night, Trafford & Co. would’ve had a touch more talent on the pitch. Major and sudden injuries kept the Cavs from being full force. No Sergio Camargo, their top striker, out indefinitely with a hamstring injury. No Jordan Brown, another young offensive threat, out with an ankle injury.
No Nik Ledgerwood, the team captain and a huge centrepiece on the field, out after being handed two yellow cards during the first leg in Montreal. And lost for the season are a couple of other veterans, including Joel Waterman (toe) and Dean Northover (ACL). All big losses.
“We’re not going to make excuses for having players injured or suspended. We’ll keep plugging along,” said Wheeldon Jr.
“We will be rotating (other players into the lineup Friday). I just think we will because of the health and safety of the players. Forty-eight hours (of rest) is not ideal. It’s a perfect time for Edmonton to play us. We seem to be playing everybody who has a week to prepare against us.”