A tale of twos played out on the final day of fixtures in the CPL.
Tobias Warschewski scored a second half brace to finish as the Canadian Premier League Golden Boot Winner with 12 goals as Cavalry FC upended Valour FC 2-1 Saturday afternoon in Winnipeg to secure the second seed for the playoffs.
"We all went into this game wanting to support him to get the Golden Boot," said Cavalry FC goalkeeper Marco Carducci. "It's fantastic he was able to do that.
"But, for us, we played this game knowing there was a lot on the line for us, the opportunity to host a final is huge. We know from our experience last year that getting in the top-two spots is big in this playoff system."
Cavalry entered the weekend knowing three points would be enough to stave off Atlético Ottawa in the race for second place with Forge FC already locked into the top-seed.
Valour, fighting for its playoff lives, opened the scoring on Saturday just seven minutes from kickoff when Abdul Binate jumped on a loose ball in the box.
In the 57th minute, the visitors drew even with Warschewski smashing an attempted clearance with a no-doubt half volley into the back of the net.
The German striker, in his first year with the Cavs, then added his league-high 12th tally in dramatic fashion in the 89th minute after drawing a penalty and converting the game-winner from the spot.
✨ THE GOLDEN BOOT GOAL ✨ pic.twitter.com/eCul5LOEjq
— x - Cavalry FC (@CPLCavalryFC) October 19, 2024
Warschewski is the second player in team history to earn the Golden Boot, following in the footsteps of Myer Bevan, who was co-winner of the award during his prolific 2023 campaign.
"He had a great spell at the start of the season when we didn't have a lot of our attacking options and he carried us for that time," said Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. "I think the guys rallied around today to create moments for him and he's a terrific finisher.
"But he doesn't just do that, he works his socks off as well."
As the second seed, Cavalry has a more direct path towards the North Star Cup.
The playoffs will kick off on Oct. 27 with Cavalry travelling to Hamilton to meet the defending champion Forge FC in the semifinal. The winning team is through to the championship game, which it will host, with the losing team getting another shot in the double-elimination format.
"The North Star Cup goes through Forge," Wheeldon Jr. added. "They've just won the regular season, they've been the best team this season because the league table never lies. To face them, it's a game we're looking forward to."
Cavalry FC is guaranteed one home playoff game, either the league finals on Nov. 9 or the redemption game semifinal on Nov. 2.
All eight teams played concurrently on Saturday during the CPL’s Outcome with playoff implications at play in each of the four contests.
When the dust settled, Pacific FC claimed the fifth and final playoff berth with Valour, Vancouver FC and the previously eliminated Halifax on the outside looking in.
The five-team CPL playoff will see Pacific travel to Ontario to take on York United in the five-versus-four seed matchup on Oct. 23.
The winning team moves on to play Atlético Ottawa in the quarterfinal round on Oct. 27, a match that will precede the Cavs and Forge match that will see the winners advance straight to the playoff final.
For more information, go to cavsfc.com.
