A spot in the Canadian Championship final on the line
CF Montréal travels to Hamilton to take on Forge FC for the first time ever, this Wednesday at 7:30pm at Tim Hortons Field, in the semi-final matchup of the Canadian Championship. The winner will qualify to the final of the national tournament, where it will take on either Toronto FC or Pacific FC.
In the middle of an intense playoff race as well in MLS with just three games left to go in the regular season, all over the spam of eight days, roster management will be of utter importance for head coach Wilfried Nancy heading into this last stretch of games.
“I’m going to field a team that will allow me to win this game,” explained head coach Wilfried Nancy. “There’s a final on the line and our goal is to make it as for as possible.”
Montreal entered the tournament at the quarterfinal stage, where it faced off against the HFX Wanderers in Halifax, managing a 3-1 win thanks to two late goals from Ballou Tabla. Forge, on its end, edged out Valour in the quarterfinal, and has lost just one of its last six league games. The Hamilton side has proven itself as one of the best in the Canadian Premier League, having won the league-title in the first two seasons of the league’s existence.
“They’re a good team,” added Nancy. “They have a clear idea of how they want to play, defensively and offensively. From what I’ve seen of them so far, they’re a very interesting side. On our end, we’re going to completely forget the fact that we’re playing a CPL team. We’re facing a team we need to beat to get to the final, and we’ll do everything to do just that.”
There will be more than a few familiar faces at Tim Hortons Field, with former Club players Kyle Bekker, Omar Browne, and Maxime Tissot now playing their football with Forge FC. Of course, we can’t forget David Choinière, who also represented the Club, and whose younger brother, Mathieu, is a regular part of Wilfried Nancy’s 11 this season.
“Having known them when they were very young, there’s a lot of competitiveness between these two,” said Nancy. They used to play at home and play competitive games, and it was no laughing matter. They would tackle each other. They’ve always been that way. It’s a nice story.”
Injury update
Lassi Lappalainen has officially been cleared and will be available to the coaching staff this Wednesday. Romell Quioto, on the other hand, is on his way back, and may be available on Saturday when we take on the New York Red Bulls at 4pm.
