AS IT STANDS: Cavalry take over 1st place as Toronto's attack reignites

We have a new leader in the Canadian Premier League.

Rivalry week certainly didn't disappoint, with four outstanding clashes across the league, headlined by a ferocious contest between Cavalry and Forge.

The Cavs recovered from an early goal they gifted to Forge, taking advantage of red cards to both Hamilton full-backs. In the end, local boy Owen Antoniuk played hero, finding the back of the net with a late long-range blast to deliver a 2-1 win and put Cavalry at the top of the table.

Speaking of local boys playing hero, Atlético Ottawa had two of them on Sunday at FC Supra. Down 1-0 with 10 minutes to play, recent newcomer Nicolas Fleuriau-Chateau nodded in an 83rd-minute equalizer. Just seven minutes later, 19-year-old EYT signing Ralph Khoury scored the winner, assisted by Fleuriau-Chateau.

Later that afternoon, Inter Toronto's attack finally burst into life, as they scored three in the first 25 minutes against the Halifax Wanderers. It ended a little closer than they would've liked — a 4-1 lead rapidly became 4-3 in the second half — but Mauro Eustáquio and co. are finally back in the win column.

Also, Friday night's B.C. Derby saw Pacific FC take the lead again, only for Terran Campbell to score an incredible overhead kick to give Vancouver FC a point.

With some movement in the table, here's how the standings look now:

The race for the CPL Shield is going to be spectacular. Cavalry have taken over the lead, remaining unbeaten against Forge at ATCO Field in the last eight regular-season meetings. However, that game in hand looms large. Forge could reclaim the lead if they beat FC Supra at home on Wednesday, when they'll make up that extra match.

Tommy Wheeldon Jr. pointed out that Cavalry have an excellent record at home against Forge in particular, and that's by design.

"This is our house," he said on Saturday. "We have certain behaviours in our house, and they don’t like coming here. We don’t want to make them feel welcome at all.”

It's still not a happy time in Hamilton. They were frustrated by the 1-0 loss to Vancouver a week ago, and infuriated by the defeat in Calgary; Bobby Smyrniotis was certainly not pleased with either of the red cards. Rezart Rama was sent off for putting his hand on Daan Klomp's throat in a confrontation, which is almost always an automatic ejection. The later decision, though, on Marko Jevremović, was a closer call; Jevremović was the last defender back, but some replays suggested he may have gotten the ball before knocking over Ali Musse.

Forge aren't the only team coming into this week on a low note. The Halifax Wanderers are now winless in their last five, and coach Vanni Sartini is at a loss. He couldn't do much but shake his head after the loss to Inter Toronto, where they were down 3-0 within half an hour despite barely letting Toronto into their penalty area.

Sartini gave an honest assessment of where his team is at the moment, saying that they aren't "ready to compete at the top level." They have a mountain to climb, now 10 points out of the playoffs with more games played than any other club.

It was a much better week for Ottawa, who exacted some revenge on FC Supra after losing to them in the Canadian Championship. We're not sure what it is, but they've had some tremendous late heroics in recent games. Nic Fleuriau-Chateau has been incredible since joining the club in July, too.

Of course, Atleti's comeback win means FC Supra are now in a tough spot, too. A six-point swing in this game against the club they're chasing has made their postseason hopes slimmer than ever.

Finally, you have to feel for Pacific FC. For the fourth straight game, they took the lead and couldn't close it out for their first win of the season. If they'd managed to hold on to win a derby match against the red-hot Vancouver, the mood on Van Isle could have shifted significantly. Still, they're playing some good football under Terry Dunfield, and that win has to be just around the corner now.

Awards Watch

It was an attack-heavy weekend, so not many defenders made much of a case for themselves — although Daan Klomp was very good for Cavalry, and scored again.

Tobias Warschewski had another good day with an assist, as it now really feels like he and Sean Rea are neck-and-neck in the Player of the Year race. Something to watch: Warschewski is now up to seven assists this season at roughly the halfway mark, which means he's hunting Rea's single-season record of nine (set in 2022, tied with David Rodríguez's total last year).

The Golden Boot race continues to be fun, with Ballou Tabla and Loïc Kwemi level at eight goals apiece. Isaiah Johnston got up to seven on the weekend, which ties him with Mohamed Amissi. Warschewski has six, by the way; it wouldn't be the first time he's gone on a late-season run to capture the award.

U-21 Minutes Update

The Halifax Wanderers are the first club to pass the 2,000-minute mark for U-21 players this season, thanks to starts for Lucas Olguin, Francesco Troisi and Tavio Ciccarelli on Sunday.

Atlético Ottawa probably had the best U-21 contribution this weekend, though, with Ralph Khoury's one-goal, one-assist performance in about 20 minutes of work against FC Supra. Atleti will most likely pass the 2,000 threshold this week, particularly since they play twice in Matchweek 18.

Coming up next…

Wednesday, Aug. 19

Forge FC vs. FC Supra du Québec
7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT (OneSoccer, TVA Sports 2)

Atlético Ottawa vs. Vancouver FC
7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT (OneSoccer)

Saturday, Aug. 22

Halifax Wanderers vs. Vancouver FC
2 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT (OneSoccer)

Cavalry FC vs. Atlético Ottawa
4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT (OneSoccer, TSN)

Forge FC vs. Pacific FC
7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT (OneSoccer)

Sunday, Aug. 23

Inter Toronto vs. FC Supra du Québec
4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT (OneSoccer, CBC Gem, TVA Sports 2)

Photo of the Week

The real photo of the week is probably the image of Owen Antoniuk standing on the wall used at the top of this article, but here's a perfectly-timed shot of Terran Campbell's bicycle kick.