It's more of the same in the Canadian Premier League this weekend as York United FC hosts Vancouver FC and Pacific FC entertains Cavalry FC.
The two games — in Toronto on Saturday and Langford, B.C., on Sunday — are rematches of midweek Canadian Championship preliminary-round contests at the same venues.
Atletico Ottawa, meanwhile, downed HFX Wanderers FC 3-1 in cup play Wednesday in Toronto. The two teams tied 1-1 in the CPL season opener last Saturday at Ottawa's TD Place.
"I'm not a big fan of playing the same team twice in a row, to be honest," York coach Martin Nash said after Wednesday's 1-0 win over expansion Vancouver at York Lions Stadium. "It is what it is. We both got to see each other tonight so I guess we do it all again Saturday."
Pacific dispatched Cavalry 5-3 in a penalty shootout Thursday after the game finished knotted at 1-1 after 90 minutes at starlight Stadium.
Elsewhere in cup play this week, Forge FC downed FC Laval 3-0, CF Montreal blanked Vaughan SC 2-0 and TSS Rovers FC upset Valour FC 3-1.
Also Saturday, it's Halifax (0-1-0) at Forge (0-1-0) and Atletico Ottawa (0-1-0) at Valour (1-0-0).
For all eight CPL clubs, who kicked off their regular season last weekend, it's the end to a busy week with each playing three games.
For Halifax coach Patrice Gheisar, there are some positives to three straight games on the road despite missing the comforts of home.
"We don't have many local players so all of our guys reside together in two different buildings," he explained. "But being on the road, you're together pretty much 24-7 … We've had the opportunity to do more meetings, more one-on-ones, more group meetings, so it has (been good) for that part.
"I still think being away from your bed is something that could throw some guys off. Our team, behind the scenes, has worked really hard to make sure our guys are eating well, they're comfortable. Our travel is set up quite well. Our training sessions are light."
Halifax started well against Ottawa midweek, going up 1-0 before conceding three straight. The new-look Wanderers are already showing off an attractive brand of football but, having scored first in its first two games only to emerge with a draw and a loss, have to learn to lock down a lead.
"I just think our discipline and game management has to grow," Gheisar said after the loss to Ottawa. "We'll be ready for Saturday."
Gheisar's philosophy revolves around ball possession.
"I think the best way to defend is just to keep the ball," he explained. "It's a lot less running and it's a lot easier to manage things."
Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis and Gheisar know each other well, having coached against each other in League1 Ontario in the past — Smyrniotis with Sigma FC and Gheisar with Vaughan.
"He's got some good ideas about the game," Smyrniotis said. "He's a coach that likes possession-based buildup football with a lot of fluid attacking activity. I think it sounds a little bit familiar to myself. I think you can see that already building in their team.
"It's the toughest thing to do in football," he added. "But I think with time it's enjoyable. It's enjoyable to the players, it's enjoyable to the supporters of a club and so on. I think that's the track that they're probably on right now as we've seen them play two games so far in league play and cup competition."
Forge captain Kyle Bekker is a question-mark for Saturday's game. The veteran midfielder missed the season opener through suspension and, nursing an injury, did not play in the midweek cup game
York (0-1-0) has several injury concerns including the influential Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, who was unable to finish the midweek cup game.
Nash said the midfielder's status was "day-to-day."
For Vancouver, Saturday is another chance for a first goal and a first win. It opened its CPL account last weekend with a 1-0 loss at Pacific.
The young Vancouver side had chances midweek against York, especially in the second half, but could not convert.
"That's the part that's missing in our game," said coach Afshin Ghotbi, an Iranian-American who has coached all over the world. "And we're hoping that as we spend more time together as a team and we play more matches, we'll try to improve. But at the end of the day … if you don't score goals, you're not going to win games."
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2023
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
