MENU
Valour's Jordi Swibel from the club's last home match vs. Forge FC -- photos buy Cameron Bartlett
Match Preview | Valour FC vs. Cavalry FC
October 17, 2024
Ed Tait
by
Ed Tait

Match #28

VALOUR FC (7-7-13) vs. CAVALRY FC (11-12-4)

When: Saturday, October 19th, 3 p.m. CDT
Where: Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg, Mb.
Ticket information here
Watch: All CPL matches are available through One Soccer and this weekend’s matches are available for free on One Soccer’s YouTube channel.
Match theme: Fan Appreciation Match. Details here:

MATCH PREVIEW:

They’ll need to take care of their own business and then cross their fingers, say some prayers and hope they get help elsewhere across the Canadian Premier League map.

Yet, here we are in the final weekend of the regular-season play and there is still very much a heartbeat on Valour FC’s playoff hopes.

Valour enters Saturday afternoon’s home match against Cavalry FC with seven wins and seven draws against 13 losses for 28 points — three back fifth-place Pacific FC and the final playoff spot.

Here is the best explanation on Valour’s quest, courtesy league’s site:

So, with a result and some good fortune Valour could still earn the first playoff berth in franchise history and then be on the road next Wednesday in Toronto against York United FC in the fourth vs. fifth opening round.

“We just think about winning a match. None of it matters if we don’t do our part,” said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos of the playoff scenario after training on Thursday. “It’s a one-off and we have to go thinking we start the 90 minutes 1-0 down. We have to find a way to win the match. That’s how I see it and that’s what been drilled into the guys and that’s what the mindset is.

“For me it’s this, if I had $15,000 to spare, I would buy the airplane tickets myself already for Monday night,” he added. “That’s the type of feeling I want the group to have and that’s the type of feeling I want to transmit to them. If not, we might as well come for a last-dance celebration and I don’t want the guys to have that in their minds.

“We give it all like we have this season. We push to the end. We know there’s only one possible result and we go for it. That’s what I want to try and transmit to the guys. I don’t want to err on caution, I don’t want any of that. I want the guys to enjoy the moment.”

Valour opened the season with seven straight matches on the road as the new turf was installed at Princess Auto Stadium. That, coupled with some early injury woes and cohesion challenges with a roster that had undergone so much change played a part in the club losing its first five matches before a win and a draw.

Since then the team is a respectable 6-6-8 and its four wins and six draws against just three defeats in the last 13 matches has put them in a position to still be alive on the final day.

“Yes, we all look back and say, ‘Ahh, if had gotten two points here, three points there…’ but let me remind people that maybe 13-14 games ago we were already out,” said Dos Santos. “People weren’t putting us in this last opportunity, this last-match hope. That’s something the guys earned. Now we’ve got ourselves here and we’ve got to have the faith and belief that it’s played on one game and I’ve seen crazier things happen in professional sports.”

THE OTHER GUYS:

3 Facts about Cavalry FC:

  • Cavalry is in a race for second spot in the CPL standings with Atlético Ottawa, currently holding a two point edge on their Ontario rivals with one match remaining. Cavalry is on a five-match unbeaten streak with three wins and two draws, their most recent result a 2-1 home victory over HFX Wanderers last weekend.
  • Forward Tobias Warschewski leads Cavalry with 10 goals while defender Daan Klomp has added six. Former Valour players Ali Musse and Fraser Aird have contributed with four and three goals, respectively, while Diego Gutierrez — a former captain here — has 1,900 minutes played over 26 matches.
  • Veteran keeper Marco Carducci leads the CPL with eight clean sheets.

VALOUR FC SPOTLIGHT:

#2, Roberto Alarcon, fullback: He’s been one of the most-consistent Valour players all season with his game seldom straying from the mean. A steady presence along the right side, he can be dangerous with the ball and is adept in set pieces. Valour will need all its veterans to step up on Saturday to help get a result.

CRITICAL NUMBER

1.00

Valour has surrendered 12 goals in its last 12 matches for a tidy 1.00 goals conceded average. Worth noting: in the 15 matches to open the season the club yielded 28 goals for a 1.87 GCM number.

All-Time: Valour FC vs. Cavalry FC

Overall: (win-draw-loss): 3-6-12

Last meeting: August 30th, 2024, ATCO Field, Calgary, Ab — Cavalry FC 2 Valour FC 2