Forge striker Borges nets hat trick in CPL honours
Every superhero has his nemesis.
Terran Campbell has Tristan Borges.
Borges, striker for leaguechampion Forge FC of Hamilton, recorded the soccer hat trick Tuesday by being named Canadian Premier League most valuable player, the league’s U-21 player of the year and Golden Boot winner as leading scorer.
Campbell, a forward for Islandbased Pacific FC, was runner-up to Borges for both the CPL U-21 player of the year and also for the inaugural Golden Boot in the league’s first year of operation.
Borges scored 13 goals, two clear of the 11 recoded by both Campbell and Dominique Malonga of Calgary’s Cavalry FC.
Former Canada U-20 international Borges was on the U-21 team of Dutch Premiership side Heerenveen and is just the type of young Canadian player the CPL wants to continue repatriating.
Campbell, meanwhile, is the kind of Canadian player the CPL aims to develop as a pro in his home country. The six-foot Burnaby product, who came up through the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy program, used his broad shoulder span to take up space and establish position in the offensive zone.
“Coming into the season, I didn’t expect to play such a big role for the team [PFC],” Campbel said in a statement.
“I was more focused on working my way into the starting lineup. As the season went on, I found myself in the starting lineup consistently. I was able to help the team and myself out by scoring goals for the club. The Island community has made me feel at home in VictorIa. The fans are absolutely amazing, supporting us rain or shine.”
Marco Carducci of Cavalry, who was called up to the Canadian national team for CONCACAF games over the summer, was named the top CPL goalkeeper of the inaugural season.
Tommy Wheeldon Jr., who guided Cavalry to the best overall regular-season record and to the league playoff final against Forge, was named CPL coach of the year. Wheeldon took the nucleus of his highly successful former Calgary Foothills team in the amateur PDL (now USL-2) and continued rolling with it in pro soccer in the CPL.