After a rare playoff setback, defending champion Forge FC hopes Saturday's matchup with visiting Atletico Ottawa is just a short detour en route to the Nov. 9 Canadian Premier League title game.
No. 1 Forge dropped into Saturday's semifinal after losing 1-0 to No. 2 Cavalry FC at Tim Hortons Field in the qualifying semifinal. No. 3 Ottawa advanced by edging No. 4 York United FC 5-4 in a penalty shootout after their quarterfinal finished knotted at 2-2 after extra time at TD Place Stadium.
Saturday's winner moves on to face Cavalry in the championship game at ATCO Field.
"It's the second leg of a semifinal with a different opponent and no score from the first game," said Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis.
"The path to certain things is not always linear," added Smyrniotis, who received his sixth straight nomination for CPL coach of the year earlier in the day. "These games are about hunger and fight. And you've got to make sure that's for 90 minutes."
Last Sunday's loss to Cavalry was just Forge's second defeat in 14 career playoff games (10-2-2). The Hamilton-based side normally runs the table in the post-season.
Forge has won the title four of the league's five seasons to date. The lone blemish is a 2-0 loss to Pacific FC in the 2021 championship game.
"We're a team that plays for trophies," said Smyrniotis, whose team has been together since January thanks to an early run in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. "That's important to us."
Forge will be back in CONCACAF's elite club competition after finishing atop the regular-season standings. "But our thirst is always for more," the coach added.
Ottawa lost 2-0 to Forge in the 2022 championship game.
While Forge has been the CPL's gold standard since the league kicked off play in 2019, Ottawa beefed up its lineup this season by adding the likes of Manny Aparacio, Matteo de Brienne, Amer Didic, Aboubacar Sissoko, Ballou Tabla and Kris Twardek.
"We have a lot of leadership in the group," said Ottawa captain Maxim Tissot. "A lot of guys that have been here before, that have won titles, that have played in important matches."
With retirement looming at the end of the season, the 32-year-old Tissot says he has tried to stay in the moment — including the penalty shootout thriller against York
"We have a roster built for that," he said.
Forge (15-8-5) finished six points ahead of Ottawa (11-6-11) in the regular season. But Ottawa had the better of Forge with three wins and one loss.
Forge leads the all-time series 12-5-3, outscoring Ottawa 36-18.
Ottawa won twice this season at TD Place Stadium — 3-0 on May 25 and 4-3 on June 28 — and triumphed 2-0 at Tim Hortons Field on Oct. 12 when Forge had already clinched the regular-season title. Forge won 3-0 at home when the two met Aug. 10.
Ottawa coach Carlos Gonzalez downplays that success, however.
"This is a brand new game," he said. "A completely different context than the previous ones."
The late loss to Ottawa was one Forge's two defeats this season at Tim Hortons Field, where it went 11-2-1. Forge also lost 2-1 to Vancouver FC there on May 18.
Saturday's game features five of the 10 finalists for the league's Players' Player of the Year Award in Forge's Beni Badibanga, Kyle Bekker, Tristan Borges and Alessandro Hojabrpour and Ottawa's Ruben del Campo.
The award is voted on by the players.
Ottawa went unbeaten for the first nine games of the season (6-0-3). After wobbling somewhat in the middle of the campaign during a 2-5-2 run, it lost just one of its final 10 regular-season games (3-1-6).
Including the playoff defeat, Forge has gone scoreless in losing its last three games. But it won eight of 10 before that (8-1-1) in a stretch run that ended with it clinching the regular-season title Oct. 6 with a 1-0 win at Valour FC.
Smyrniotis had challenges to face this season with goalkeeper Triston Henry, defender Manjrekar James and attackers Woobens Pacius and Kwasi Poku all moving on.
But here Forge is again.
"We've hit a lot most of our metrics," said Smyrniotis. "The thing is this team always has an edge to it, an edge that always asks and wants for more. And that's what we're looking for (Saturday). To have the opportunity to compete for another trophy."
Forge attacker Viktor Klonaridis remains day-to-day with an injury.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
