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November 4th Edition
Sinclair going out with a bang, Tides making waves, CPL Final set and so much more
It’s Canadian Premier League final week, as the league’s two most successful clubs will once again go head to head, with Cavalry hosting Forge in a rematch of last year’s finale.
This week was also a big one for two CanWNT legends, as Christine Sinclair had a huge performance in her final NWSL regular season match, while longtime national teammate Erin McLeod is coming home to sign in the NSL.
Plus, CanWNT heavy NWSL playoffs, a La Liga debut for a potential CanMNT baller, and much more ahead in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.
In this week's edition:
CPL
🔨 Cavalry FC to host Forge in 2024 CPL Final
André Varty / DARBY
Same as it ever was. The inevitable Forge FC are back in the CPL Final for a sixth straight year after a 1-0 win over Atlético Ottawa on Saturday in Hamilton.
Their oldest rivals now await in the 2024 CPL Final, as after meeting at Tim Hortons field in an instant classic last season, Forge head to Calgary this year to meet rivals Cavalry again. They defeated Cavs back in the inaugural 2019 CPL Final as well, and will be looking to be the first club in league history to do the double with the 2024 regular season title already in their cabinet.
Cavalry, however, beat Forge 1-0 two weeks back in the league’s qualifying semifinal to book their spot in the final and earn their role as hosts. That was the first time that the Cavs have ever beat Forge in the postseason, so they will come into Saturday’s final with renewed confidence.
As a result of Forge’s victory, Cavalry have also now qualified for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup, either as the regular season runners-up or as the CPL playoff champions. They join Forge and the Vancouver Whitecaps as Canada’s representatives in the continental competition.
The 2024 CPL Final will be played on Saturday, November 9 (1 p.m. MT / 3 p.m. ET) at ATCO Field in Calgary. It will be available to watch live on CBC, cbcsports.ca and OneSoccer.
Tickets are almost entirely sold out for what should be an absolutely incredible afternoon of footy at Spruce Meadows.
NWSL
🌹 Christine Sinclair scores in her final NWSL regular season match
Portland Thorns
Of course she did. The GOAT scored an absolutely massive goal in her final NWSL regular season match, opening the scoring in a crucial 3-0 victory over Angel City FC — which also clinched the Portland Timbers a spot in the playoffs and extended her career at least one more game.
There were special celebrations throughout the week leading up to the game as fans packed Providence Park to say goodbye to the greatest to ever do it, including special merch, a pop-up museum and a pre-match tifo. In a script-writer’s dream, she was also presented with a plaque before kick-off for achieving her 200th NWSL regular season appearance.
She wasted no time thanking fans for coming out, scoring just 16 minutes into the match. Portland were up three before the half, as her strike partners Sophia Smith and Morgan Weaver also bagged.
That goal was the GOAT’s eighth in all competitions this season. This isn’t a fade out, Sinclair is proving she still has plenty of game, but is going out on her own terms.
Beyond an awaiting play-off game, Christine Sinclair also isn’t saying goodbye to the sport. Sinc was welcomed last month as a co-owner in the Northern Super League’s Vancouver Rise, taking her legacy forward to the next generation.
The Thorns kick off the postseason on Sunday, November 10 against third-place Gotham FC at Red Bull Arena in the quarter-final. Gotham are the defending NWSL champs so this will be no easy feat, but during the GOAT’s last dance, all bets are off.
NSL
👏 CanWNT legend Erin McLeod becomes marquee first signing for Halifax Tides
Halifax Tides
Halifax are already making waves ahead of their first season as a club with the signing of Canadian women’s national team legend Erin McLeod, announced this week.
The 41-year-old goalkeeper will bring an incredible amount of experience and pedigree to the East Coast club. She has 119 caps for the Canadian women’s national team, She was part of the Tokyo 2020 Gold medal-winning Canadian team, and also won a Bronze in 2012. She also played every match for Canada at the 2015 home World Cup.
Her storied club career has taken her across the globe at the club level, including most recently with Stjarnan in Iceland, as well as multiple years played in the NWSL.
The fact that she still has motivation to play and perform at the highest level at 41, despite multiple brutal injuries throughout her career shows just how much this league is inspiring Canadian ballers. McLeod will be a strong mentor and advocate on the pitch for the league in its first season, and potentially beyond.
MLS
🌊 Whitecaps stayin’ alive after big win over LAFC
Whitecaps FC
The Whitecaps are still alive in the MLS Cup playoffs after a huge Game Two at BC Place on Saturday, with a 3-0 victory over LAFC. The victory tied the Round One series up 1-1, after the Caps lost 2-1 in Game 1.
Two goals in the first 13 minutes, one from Ryan Gauld and an own goal forced by the Scottish international, put the Caps in the driver’s seat early, and they never took their hands off the wheel. Gauld forced another own goal in the second half to see out the HUGE dub.
The do-or-die game three between these two sides will be played on Friday at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The winner will take on the Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference semifinal, who had a pair of penalty kick victories over the Houston Dynamo.
Canucks Abroad
🌍 Canucks Abroad
@CelticFC
🇫🇷 Jonathan David still on fire. The Iceman just cannot stop scoring. JD scored his seventh league goal on the season, capitalising on a defensive error to open a 1-1 draw against Lyon. The win propelled LOSC up into fourth, now two points back of Derek Cornelius and Ismaël Koné’s second-placed Marseille, and third-place Monaco.
🇵🇹 Stephen Eustáquio scores. It was a bit of a collector’s item as Porto wrapped up a league cup quarter-final win over Moreirense on Thursday. Eustáquio, on a late-arriving run into the box, gave a defender a little shimmie shake before slotting past the goalkeeper and a second defender on the line for the 2-0 goal and the win.
🇧🇪 Promise David with a three-goal week. ‘Twas a great week for the 23-year-old from Brampton this week. The baller produced a brace in a 3-0 cup win against Scott Kennedy’s Eupen midweek. Then, over the weekend, Tobi made it three in four days with another goal from the spot in a 1-1 draw against Mechelen in league action.
🇦🇺 Kathryn Harvey produces magic for Melbourne City. The former Trinity Western Spartan and Unity FC forward kicked off her career in City Blue in style early Sunday morning. Down 2-0 after 51 minutes, the 27-year-old struck within two minutes of her debut with one poacher’s goal, before doing it again ten minutes later for a second as the side clawed back (and more) to a 5-2 win at full time.
🇮🇹 Évelyne Viens in the goals for Roma. Back from international duty and back in the goals, was Canada’s #24, fresh off leading the line from the start against Spain. Viens capitalised on a great ball out of the back with a well-placed header, after having turned provider to open the day in a 5-1 win on Sunday against Sampdoria.
🏴 Buchanan and Lawrence on the stat-sheet for Chelsea. It continued to be a good Sunday for members of the CanWXNT. Over in London, Kadeisha Buchanan perfectly swung a ball into the heart of the box to pick up the assist on the first goal of the day. Four more goals later, including the last one supplied by Ashley Lawrence from close-range, the Blues would travel back home with a 5-0 win over Everton.
🏴 David Wotherspoon delivers two assists. The originator of the Spoony chop pulled out a few more clubs from his bag in a midweek win against Livingston. Wotherspoon cooked up a pair of corner flag deliveries for the final goals in a 3-0 win.
🏴 Owen Goodman’s clean sheet against the franchise. Once again this season, AFC Wimbledon had the calling card of their rivals in an FA Cup edition of this Darby clash against MK Dons. Goodman, eligible for the CanMNT, ensured nothing got by him — the scenes (and limbs) at full-time being well-deserved.
🏴 Alistair Johnston in another final. It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for AJ, between captaining from the start for the first time, a small handful of goals, and some more. Well, his schedule will have one more thing it in next month… the Scottish League Cup final, and another Darby clash against rivals Rangers. Celtic demolished an unbeaten Aberdeen, 6-0, in this past weekend’s semi-final.
🇪🇸 LaLiga debut for Justin Smith. This is one of those moments that you won’t forget for a lifetime. Or, at least, it is, if your name is Justin Smith. The former CanM20 midfielder made his LaLiga debut for Espanyol on Sunday, subbing on in the 61st minute against none other than Barcelona at the historic Estadi Olímpic in a 3-1 loss. Aside from the result itself, a very bright moment indeed for the 21-year-old.
🇫🇷 Derek Cornelius stretchered off. This was… one of the more unfortunate moments on a busy Sunday. Just 18 minutes after entering an eventual 2-1 win against Nantes, Cornelius was carried off the pitch in some upper-body discomfort. We hope that it’s nothing serious ahead of November’s Nations League match-ups with Suriname.
🇨🇭 A pair of Montréalers meet again. In a fun turn of events on Thursday, Mathieu Choinière’s Grasshopper faced off against Zachary Brault-Guillard’s Lugano. Both Canadians were named to the starting XI and went the full distance for their respective clubs as the match played out to a 1-1 draw. In a full-circle moment, the pair swapped shirts after the final whistle, the reunion captured on the two’s IGs.
Canucks at Home
🏡 Canucks at Home
NWSL
🇺🇸 A Canadian in every NWSL playoff quarter-final. The bracket is set and the NWSL playoffs kick off next weekend and they are absolutely worth tuning in to because there is a Canadian baller in every one of them. On Friday, Julia Grosso and Chicago Red Stars battle top-seed Orlando Pride. On Saturday, Desiree Scott and Nichelle Prince of the KC Current go up against Sydney Collins, Victoria Pickett and Bianca St-Georges of the North Carolina Courage. And finally on Sunday, Jessie Fleming and Christine Sinclair look to pull off an upset against defending champs Gotham FC while Gabby Carle’s second seed Washington Spirit host Bay FC.
🩵 Nichelle Prince in form for KC’s regular season finale. KC’s record-breaking offensive season continued right to the end. In all that, Prince has rounded into form at the perfect time, firing home the Current’s final regular-season goal in a 3-1 win over Chicago on Sunday. Prince also had the assist on KC’s opener in the win.
👑 Jordyn Huitema caps Seattle’s regular season with a goal. Even though Seattle won’t be headed to the play-offs, there was plenty for Huitema to celebrate over the final weekend of the regular season. The Reign’s #9 would poke home an early equaliser from six yards out in an eventual 3-2 loss to Orlando on Saturday.
🦆 Dayne St. Clair heroics for Minnesota in Round One. Dayne. St. Clair. There’s really not much else that we can say that hasn’t already been said about the Loons’ early playoffs saviour. DSC helped call time on Real Salt Lake after two wins on penalties in their best-of-three series, making save after save after save. Oh, and there was a Man of the Match awarded in all that… because of course there was.
🇺🇸 Elsewhere in Round One of MLS playoffs action. Admittedly, there’s not much positive to report here. Kimani Stewart-Baynes and the Colorado Rapids were quite easily handled by the LA Galaxy in two games, while Jacen Russell-Rowe and the reigning champions Columbus Crew suffered a straight-sets defeat to the New York Red Bulls. Brandon Cambridge’s Charlotte FC series against Luca Petrasso’s Orlando will head to a third game.
📝 MLS end-of-season roster decisions. With seasons coming to an end for the 11 non-playoffs teams across the league, some have already moved to announce roster moves for 2025. A list of those with options and expiring contracts is listed below:
Toronto FC exercised options on Kobe Franklin, Luka Gavran, Deandre Kerr, and Kosi Thompson; options were declined for Greg Ranjitsingh; options are to be determined for Luke Singh, currently on loan with Atlético Ottawa.
Nashville SC exercised options for Lukas MacNaughton.
🏁 Drew Fischer named MLS Referee of the Year. It’s awards season across MLS — including referees. Calgary’s own Drew Fischer was selected as this season’s Referee of the Year from a shortlist of three candidates. Fischer refereed at the Olympics this past summer in Paris, also becoming the second Canadian to win the award after Silviu Petrescu in 2012.
🇺🇸 USL Championship conference quarter-finals wrap-up. Playoffs season also kicked off this weekend in the USL-C. Moving onto the conference semi-finals are Jake Morris and Louisville City; Karifa Yao and Rhode Island FC; Jay Chapman, Nathan Dossantos and Charleston Battery; and, Ben Norris and Orange County SC, after victories over North Carolina FC, Indy Eleven, Pittsbugh Riverhounds, and Memphis 901 FC, respectively. Brett Levis and Detroit City FC were the lone Canadian-represented club sent home after a defeat on penalties to the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
🌵 Alen Marcina departs San Antonio. After five seasons and a USL Championship title, the Burnaby native is calling time on his stay in San Antonio. The club and Marcina mutually parted ways on Halloween, after an up-and-down 2024 season. As head coach, Marcina posted a 81-42-42 record across his tenure in the 210. Could we maybe see him in the CPL next season?
Other News
📰 In other news this week
⚓ Halifax Wanderers add Mark Watson. The Wanderers are clearly hoping that 2025 will be a better year than 2024. To that end, the club have already begun to make offseason moves, starting by appointing Watson, a member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame, as Senior Football Strategy Advisor. All signs point to the club hoping to build a three-person brain trust between Watson, head coach Patrice Gheisar and sporting director Matt Fegan to take the club back to the playoffs next season.
🦉 Calgary Wild announce Alix Bruch as sporting director. Front office announcements continue to flow out of the Wild’s Calgary headquarters. On Wednesday, hometown history-maker Alix Bruch was announced by the club as their first sporting director. The news followed the club announcing Farkhunda Muhtaj as their first player, and the addition of Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey as an investor and club ambassador last week.
🌌 CPL unveils award nominees. The Canadian Premier League will hand out its end-of-season awards this week, and they released the list of nominees for a number of those honours.
Pacific’s Emil Gazdov, York’s Thomas Vincensini and Vancouver FC’s Callum Irving have been nominated for the Golden Glove Award for best goalkeeper.
Gazdov, York’s Noah Abatneh and Forge’s Kwasi Poku are the nominees for Best U-21 Canadian Player.
Forge’s Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson, Cavalry’s Daan Klomp and Valour FC’s Themi Antonoglou are up for Defender of the Year.
Forge’s Bobby Smyrniotis, York’s Benjamín Mora and last year’s winner, Cavalry’s Tommy Wheeldon Jr., earned nods for Coach of the Year.
The coveted Players’ Player of the Year, meanwhile, saw a shortlist of ten players revealed: Forge’s Béni Badibanga, Kyle Bekker, Tristan Borges and Alessandro Hojabrpour, Cavalry’s Daan Klomp, Ali Musse (who won the award last season) and Tobias Warschewski, Halifax’s Lorenzo Callegari, Atlético Ottawa’s Rubén del Campo and York United’s Brian Wright.
There is just one award yet to be revealed, and that is the nominees for the league’s Player of the Year award, which is expected to be announced later on Monday.
The 2024 CPL Awards will take place on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. ET live on OneSoccer, cbcsports.ca and CBC Gem.
✅ Northern Picks
This week’s picks come from The Northern Pitch team.
✅ Who to follow
Diana Al Shammari, aka @thefootballgal has been creating beautiful embroidered football shirts for years now. If you haven’t come across her work yet, today’s your lucky day.
📺 What to Watch
Everybody knows football play-by-play is 10x better in Spanish, so do yourself a favour and watch the highlights from the Whitecaps’ 3-0 victory over LAFC last night en Español.
♟️ What to buy
In collaboration with AD Ceuta FC and Macron, Pompeii have released a stunning checkered kit showcasing the fascinating Spanish city of Ceuta, located just off the northern coast of Africa.