A tale of twos vaulted Cavalry FC into second place on Saturday.
Tobias Warschewski notched a second half brace with the attacking duo of Jay Herdman and Lowell Wright adding their first goals with the team as Cavalry FC overpowered the undermanned Pacific FC 4-1 in Canadian Premier League action on Oct. 5 at Starlight Stadium on Vancouver Island.
“We’re in playoff mindset right now,” said Cavalry FC head coach and GM Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “One was to secure, next is to secure our position in the league and we’ve got to win out if we have any chance of winning the (CPL) Shield again.
“But if not we want to be as high as possible.”
Herdman, on loan from the Vancouver Whitecaps, made good on his first start with the CPL club with a goal and an assist in a lively effort from the attacking midfielder.
He opened the scoring with a well-time header on a curling cross from Ali Musse in the 35th minute as Cavalry looked to take advantage of Pacific FC playing with 10-men after goalkeeper Emil Gazdov was sent off in the third minute on a handball outside of the box.
“The players, staff, have made it really easy to blend in with the team,” Herdman said. “It’s my first move, I’ve been with the Whitecaps for a long time now, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s been really smooth, everybody has welcome me in and how we play fits how I play.”
Pacific FC managed to even the score in the first half from the spot with Cavs goalkeeper Marco Carducci judged to have brought down a Pacific attacker. Dario Zanatta converted from the spot on a cheeky penalty kick.
The numerical advantage started to add up for the visitors in the second half.
First, Herdman turned provider by teeing up Warschewski’s first of two on the night inside the box. The German striker doubled his output 14 minutes later on a set-up from substitute Niko Myroniuk.
Wright then made it a season high four goals for the Cavs with a one-touch finish in the 77th minute.
“These type of games happen,” Wheeldon Jr. said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean a man down creates an easier solution for you and you have to break down a block. They put five at the back, they had three-and-one and made it very difficult for us.
“We had to take a breathe, catch our breather and change our structure, which we did, made three subs at halftime and freed up the extra-man.
The victory moves the Cavs to within five points of first place Forge FC with two games left to play in the regular season. Cavalry, who have clinched a playoff spot, is two points up on Atletico Ottawa in the race for second.
“We want to put as much pressure on Forge as we can, but it’s there’s to lose now, they’ve got three games and have got to get one more win,” Wheeldon Jr. added. “All we can do now is focus on the team in front of us and today that was Pacific.
“To take three points and multiple goals is a positive for us as we go into the run in.”
The Cavs are back at Spruce Meadows’ ATCO Field next weekend, Oct. 12 at 5 p.m., for the regular season home finale versus the Halifax Wanderers.
For more information, go to cavsfc.com.
