CALGARY — Can Cavalry FC finally "slay the dragon" that is Forge FC for the Canadian Premier League championship?
Hamilton-based Forge is a title machine having won the CPL crown four of the five years of the league's existence.
And the Hammers will be six-for-six in championship-game appearances Saturday at ATCO Field in Calgary.
"When you win it, it actually motivates you a little more," Forge captain Kyle Bekker said Friday at Spruce Meadows. "You want that feeling over and over again."
Forge beat Cavalry in the first Cup final in 2019 — with a 2-0 aggregate win in the two-leg affair — and also 2-1 in extra time at Tim Hortons Field in 2023.
In 2024, Forge seeks to be the first club to achieve the double in pairing the best regular-season record (15-5-8) with the North Star Cup.
Cavalry topped the table in both 2019 and 2023, but continues to chase its first title after near misses at the hands of Forge.
"They're the best," said Cavalry head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
"We have to raise our game now, but what we've done is we've brought the battle back to our place."
Forge holds a 6-1-1 playoff record against Cavalry.
Wheeldon dubbed Forge "the last dragon to slay" ahead of their qualifying semifinal matchup Oct. 27 at Tim Hortons Field.
Cavalry won its first ever playoff game against Forge in a 1-0 decision — Forge subsequently gained a rematch beating Atletico Ottawa 1-0 — so Cavalry must slay that dragon a second straight game for its first league crown.
"It's got two heads doesn't it?" Wheeldon said. "A hydra. You cut one off, two appear, but they're a bloody good team.
"We'll talk about that team for years to come, but it's up to us now. If you want to change a dynasty, someone has to stand up in their way."
Regular-season runner-up Cavalry (12-12-4) started 2-8-1 and wasn't even in playoff contention on July 25 before going 9-4-1 in the second half.
"We're competing for a trophy that we haven't won yet," said Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci, a Calgarian who has played for his hometown club since its inception.
"There will be pressure, but that ability to believe in each other, to enjoy these moments, that's what's got us to where we are, because we faced a lot of adversity early in the year."
While Forge can continue set a CPL standard that future teams will be hard-pressed to match, Bekker off-loaded pressure onto Cavalry to win their first championship on their Spruce Meadows home pitch, which the club wasn't able to do back in 2019.
"We've got a few more trophies than they do," Bekker said. "The pressure's on them, to be honest. We have four of these at home. This is our sixth final.
"We can lose, and we'll be all right. It's not the intention of anyone in the room by any means. It's a big game. We're looking forward to it, but we're kind of playing with house money at the moment, so we'll see."
Players to watch Saturday include Forge midfielder and CPL player of the year Tristan Borges. The 26-year-old from Toronto scored the extra-time winner last year in Hamilton.
Fullback Daniel Parra, who ranked third in the league in dribbles competed (41) and fourth in touches, is eligible to return to the lineup after serving a three-game suspension for a violent conduct incident against Ottawa on Oct. 12.
"Everyone is ready and available," said CPL coach of the year Bobby Smyrniotis.
"Minutes-wise, that's always a different thing. This is a game that doesn't have a tomorrow. These are games where the most ready players play and from there, you see where you can impact the game coming off the bench."
The Cavalry will lean on CPL leading scorer Tobias Warschewski, who has six goals in the club's past four matches, and Daan Klomp, who was the first player to win the league's defender award in back-to-back seasons.
While Saturday's forecast of a high of six degrees isn't as balmy as Friday's 18 degrees, the CPL final on natural grass is expected to at least be snow-free.
"We're playing football in November in Canada, and it's never going to be perfect, but hopefully the weather holds up as it has the last couple of days," Carducci said.
Both teams have qualified for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup, which is region's elite club championship.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press