Cavalry FC opens season with championship rematch

Cavalry FC opens its second soccer season with a bang.

That’s because it’ll play its first match Saturday, April 11, against host Forge FC, the team Cavalry lost to in last fall’s Canadian Premier League championship series.

After kicking off the campaign in Hamilton, the Cavs will set their sights on defending their spring-season title from last season.

The home opener at Spruce Meadows’ ATCO Field goes Saturday, April 25, against visiting York9.

“Our second season has a lot to look forward to,” said CPL commissioner David Clanachan. “We have an eighth team for fans and supporters to come out and see both home and away.”

That eighth team is Atletico Ottawa, which joined the CPL earlier this month, bumping up the membership by one from its inaugural seven-club season.

Back for another year along with Cavalry, Forge and York9 are HFX Wanderers FC, Valour FC, FC Edmonton and Pacific FC.

The regular season begins April 11 and ends Oct. 3. Each club will play 28 matches — 14 home and 14 away. With the addition of Atletico

Ottawa, the CPL has been able to generate a more balanced schedule for all clubs. The league says it took fan and supporter feedback into consideration to produce an overall schedule that has undergone some exciting changes. Those include the shift to more matches — more than 90 per cent of the schedule — being slated on holidays and weekends in 2020 and the weeknight matches being played during summer days on the calendar.

The entire regular-season schedule is slated to be released Friday. Postmedia News Wire Services