Cavalry FC were quite literally playing 'out of their league' Wednesday night, but that didn’t stop the club from stunning the soccer world in a huge victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps.
In a surprise upset, Calgary defeated Vancouver 2-1 in front of more than 16,000 fans at BC Place to advance to the Canadian Championship semifinals. This was the second and final game of the two-game, total goal series after both sides drew scoreless two weeks ago back at Spruce Meadows’ ATCO Field.
The victory is a historic achievement in Canadian soccer, as Cavalry FC became the first Canadian Premier League club to defeat a team from Major League Soccer. The Whitecaps organization was established in 1974 and joined the MLS in 2011 while Cavalry FC's side have been playing together for less than four months. The payroll of the Whitecaps is roughly 10 times that of the Cavalry.
"The biggest difference between both teams tonight was that every player on our team believed that we could win the game," Cavalry midfielder Nik Ledgerwood told OneSoccer.ca in a post-match interview. "I don’t believe that was the case for the Whitecaps."
Wednesday’s fixture kicked off with the Cavalry striking early. Jordan Brown ran down a chipped through ball pass from Ledgerwood, deked our a pair of Whitecap defenders and slotted the ball top shelf over goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau.
Vancouver drew even in the 67th minute with a goal from In-Beom Hwang but the Cavalry regained their lead less than five minutes later when defender Dominick Zator headed the ball into the back of the net off a corner kick.
It was smooth sailing from there and a night the Cavs won’t soon forget.
"This one was for the lads, this one was for the team, and most importantly this one was for our city," Zator said in a tweet posted to the Cavalry FC’s social media page. "We played the game of our lives and it makes me proud to be a Calgarian and to wear the badge."
The series win now means Cavalry FC will advance to the semifinals of the Canadian Championship, a competition open to all premier professional teams across the country. The winner of the tournament is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a Canadian berth in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Calgary will play the MLS’ Montreal Impact in the semi-finals. The Impact defeated York9 FC 1-0 Wednesday to win their series 3-2 on aggregate.
The first leg of the two-game series between the Impact and Cavalry will take place Wednesday, August 7 at the Stade Saputo in Montreal.
