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2023 Canadian Premier League final

The 2023 Canadian Premier League final was the soccer match to determine the winner of the 2023 Canadian Premier League season. It was played October 28, 2023, in Hamilton, Ontario, between Forge FC and Cavalry FC. The match was the fifth edition of the CPL Finals, the post-season championship of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian soccer. Forge were the defending champions, having won the 2022 Canadian Premier League final.

Forge defeated Cavalry 2–1 in extra time to capture their fourth title. Cavalry opened the scoring in the 101st minute from a curling strike by Ali Musse before Forge's Béni Badibanga quickly scored an equalizer. Tristan Borges then scored a goal directly from a corner for Forge in the 111th minute that held up as the match winner to secure the championship.

Path to the final

The 2023 CPL season was contested by eight teams. Each team played four games against each of the seven opponents for a total of 28 matches. The top-five teams from the regular season qualified for the playoffs which began on October 11, 2023. The playoffs featured a new Page playoff format where teams entered in different rounds depending on their finishing position. All matches in the playoffs were played as a single leg.

Forge FC

Forge FC qualified for the playoffs on September 23. They finished the season in 2nd place with a record of 11 wins, 9 draws, and 8 losses and qualified directly to the first semifinal as one of the top-two teams. In the semifinal they defeated their rivals Cavalry FC to advance to a record extending fifth consecutive CPL Final. Forge had a record of three wins and one loss in CPL Finals.

Cavalry FC

Cavalry were the first team to clinch a spot in the playoffs, which they did on September 12. They captured the CPL Shield, finishing first in the regular season by a 13 point margin. This was Cavalry's second CPL Final, having lost their only other appearance to Forge FC in 2019.

Head-to-head

The 2023 CPL final was the sixth meeting of the season between these two teams and the twenty-sixth overall. Cavalry had the advantage in the regular season against Forge, leading the head-to-head with one win and three draws and finishing 13 points ahead in the standings.

As the top-two teams in regular season, Cavalry hosted Forge in the first semifinal which was a non-elimination game. Forge won the game and earned the right to host the CPL final while Cavalry qualified to the second semifinal as losers. The match was the 23rd of 25 games between the teams that was decided by one goal or fewer.

Venue

Tim Hortons Field, home of Forge FC was the host stadium for the final. This was its third time hosting the CPL final, following 2019 (leg 1) and 2021. The stadium also notably hosted the inaugural CPL match in 2019, and the Canadian Championship final in 2022, with both matches drawing large attendance. For the 2023 CPL final, attendance was expected to be high once again; The Hamilton Spectator reported that over 10,000 tickets had been sold by October 25.

Tim Hortons Field opened in 2014 and was built as a replacement for Ivor Wynne Stadium which was located on the same grounds. The 24,000 seat multi-purpose stadium is also home to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. The venue is scheduled to host the 110th Grey Cup on November 19, three weeks after the CPL final.

Pre-match

On October 26, the Canadian Premier League Awards took place at LIUNA Station in Hamilton. Cavalry dominated the awards; Tommy Wheeldon Jr. won Coach of the Year, Ali Musse won Player's Player of the Year, and Daan Klomp won both Defender of the Year and Player of the Year. Forge's sole award winner was Triston Henry who was named the Golden Glove winner. The CPL also unveiled the North Star Cup, the new trophy that replaced the North Star Shield awarded to the CPL champion.

Forge had ruled out forward Woobens Pacius before the final due to injury while Cavalry were expected to have their full roster available for selection.

Match

Summary

First half

The final was played in front of a crowd of 13,925 fans at Tim Hortons Field. The match kicked-off at 6 pm local time, just before sunset in Hamilton. Forge took the initiative to open the match, pinning Cavalry in its own half for stretches of time. Cavalry nearly opened the scoring late in the half from a shot from distance by Fraser Aird. The half ended scoreless despite several set piece opportunities for Cavalry.

Second half

While Forge seemed to have momentum, Cavalry generated more scoring chances. Myer Bevan, Ali Musse, and Jesse Daley all had chances to open the scoring for Cavalry, but none could beat Forge goalkeeper Triston Henry. Forge's Béni Badibanga thought he had scored after chipping the ball over Cavalry keeper Marco Carducci and into the net, but the goal was called back due to a foul. Musse had another good chance denied by Forge Henry with ten minutes remaining in the half. The match was scoreless after 90 minutes, forcing it into extra time.

Extra time

Musse broke the deadlock in the 11th minute of extra time to give Cavalry a 1–0 lead. Bevan won the ball in Forge's penalty area before passing it to Daley who setup Musse for his strike. However, Forge quickly equalized when Badibanga took a short corner from Kyle Bekker and fired a long-range shot into the top corner.

In the 21st minute of extra time, Forge substitute Tristan Borges fired a leftfooted corner kick directly into the goal past Carducci for an olympico goal that stood up as the match winner.

Details

Statistics

Post-match

With their win, Forge FC earned their record-extending fourth CPL championship – all within a five year span. This final was the first where a team came from behind to win and the first where a team captured the title at home. Cavalry FC remain winless in CPL finals, with their only other appearance being a defeat to Forge in 2019. For the fourth straight year (excluding the shortened 2020 season), the regular season winner failed to achieve the double by winning the CPL championship, losing in the finals on all four occasions.

Forge and Cavalry qualified to the newly expanded 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup as champions and regular season winners respectively. Had Cavalry won the final, Forge would have still qualified as regular season runners-up. Forge returned to the competition after having most recently competed in 2022 while Cavalry made their international debut. Both Forge and Cavalry bowed out in round one of the competition, losing to Guadalajara and Orlando City SC respectively.

References

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: 2023 Canadian Premier League final by Wikipedia (Historical)

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