AS IT STANDS: We have a playoff race! Supra, Inter Toronto win big as Cavs stumble

Don't count your playoff teams before the season's over.

After some stunning results in Matchweek 24, the Canadian Premier League suddenly looks destined for a photo finish, both at the top of the table and at the playoff line.

We began last Wednesday in the capital, where Atlético Ottawa clinched their postseason berth in stunning fashion against Cavalry. The Cavs hadn't conceded more than one goal in a game all season, but they gave three to Atleti, including a Kam Habibullah wondergoal and a 100th-minute Gabriel Antinoro winner, for Ottawa's first win over Cavalry since the 2025 CPL Final.

The league leaders' week got even worse on Saturday. Cavalry went to York Lions Stadium and found themselves 2-0 down before 15 minutes were played. From there, it would always be a struggle to break down a deep-sitting Inter Toronto side; the game finished 3-1, and suddenly the first-place Cavs feel less secure.

That said, Tommy Wheeldon Jr. might owe Vanni Sartini and the Halifax Wanderers dinner. After Cavalry's loss to Toronto, Forge had a golden opportunity to make up ground in the CPL Shield race. In fact, considering their upcoming midweek match, the Hammers could have tied Cavalry on points before they played their next game.

Instead, Forge will remain in second place because of the Wanderers' last-minute comeback at Hamilton Stadium. It was an uncharacteristic late collapse from Forge, who led 3-1 in the 90th minute. Halifax youngsters Liam Mackenzie and Tavio Ciccarelli provided two quick goals, as stoppage time ticked beyond 13 minutes due to several long FVS checks earlier in the half.

The weekend ended in Laval on Sunday, as FC Supra began life under a new head coach. Kyt Selaidopoulos began his reign in style, as Supra exploded for a 5-0 rout of Pacific FC.

After all that, here's how the table looks with just three weeks to go.

While the actual order of the table hasn't changed much, it all feels a little bit closer now.

That late Halifax goal might have been just enough to prevent a Forge comeback for the CPL Shield, but the five-point gap to Cavalry leaves the door open. If Forge do beat Pacific on Wednesday night, though, they'd be just one more Cavalry stumble away from taking over first place.

It's certainly not an ideal time for Cavalry to go on their first two-game losing streak of the year; the Ontario road trip was pretty rough for them. Up until now, they had been pretty unshakeable at the back, so it was odd to see them conceding somewhat cheaply. Against Toronto in particular, the Cavs were beaten all too easily in transition, which they certainly knew would be key to Inter's game plan.

The Cavs head to Halifax next weekend, and they'll feel like they need a win to restore their breathing room.

Further down the table, we may have a playoff race on our hands.

For Vancouver, it's a similar situation to Cavalry: five points clear, but forced to scoreboard-watch this week. Supra, Halifax and Toronto are all refusing to go down quietly, and one of them could pull closer to fourth this week.

Inter Toronto host FC Supra on Wednesday in their School Day Match, which will have major standings implications. If Supra win, they'll be just two points behind Vancouver, and those two sides play each other this coming Saturday in Laval.

This all goes to show that you can't count teams out too early. I'd expect some more movement over the last three weeks of the season, because the unpredictability of this league is certain to provide some more surprise results.

In other CPL news, last week was an emotional one in Hamilton as Forge captain Kyle Bekker announced his retirement.

After eight years as one of the faces of the league, it'll be odd to see Forge move on without him, but there's no doubt that Bekker hangs up his boots as one of the CPL's all-time greats.

Forge announced that they'll be honouring Bekker in their last home game of the year, coming up on Thanksgiving Monday against Inter Toronto.

Speaking of people moving on from Forge, Kyt Selaidopoulos finally has his chance to lead a CPL team as he replaces Nick Razzaghi at FC Supra. He was an assistant on Bobby Smyrniotis's staff for six years, and he always felt like a potential candidate for a top job when one became available.

To that point, the FC Supra role seems perfect for him, considering Selaidopoulos's roots in the Montreal soccer community. His first game went about as well as he could've possibly hoped; it's a bit of a longshot, but could a new coach bump push them over the line into the playoffs?

This is setting up to be a massive week for the playoff race.

If The Playoffs Started Today...

Right now, it would still be Cavalry against Vancouver and Forge against Atlético Ottawa, and both of those semifinals would be extremely tough contests. The top two have looked a little more vulnerable in recent weeks, so really it wouldn't be a huge shock for any of those four to end up in the CPL Final. Atlético Ottawa have been in great form, and Vancouver (if they do make the playoffs) would go into the postseason battle-hardened after fighting to secure their spot in the final weeks.

Awards Watch

Loïc Kwemi has pulled into sole control of the Golden Boot lead, now sitting on 12 regular season tallies. That said, Isaiah Johnston (11), Ballou Tabla (10) and Tobias Warschewski (10) are all close enough behind to overtake him; that's going to be a fun battle to track in October.

Speaking of Warschewski, he still seems like the clear front-runner for Player of the Year. He still needs one more assist to break the single-season record, and he should get there, although he's been sharing some of the set-piece duties with Ali Musse recently. Still, the Cavs will probably return to form, and Warschewski will have his opportunities.

The Golden Glove battle is interesting; surely, Nathan Ingham and Dimitry Bertaud are the two main candidates, but it's hard to separate the two of them and pick one. Bertaud's case might be hurt late in the season just because of his extended absence with the DR Congo national team, but Ingham's Cavs have also started conceding a little more often. That's a race that could come right down to the wire.

It was also a good week for Alessandro Biello, who was excellent in Supra's 5-0 win. He probably still has a lot of catching up to do to pip Adam Pearlman or Kian Proctor for Canadian U-21 Player of the Year, but don't count him out.

U-21 Minutes Update

Seven out of eight teams have crossed the 2,000-minute mark, and Cavalry will almost certainly get over the line soon; they'd just need another couple of appearances from James McGlinchey.

It was an excellent weekend for U-21 players in gernal, particularly in Halifax where Liam Mackenzie and Tavio Ciccarelli both scored off the bench to complete the comeback. Matisse Chrétien also found the net for FC Supra, and Alessandro Biello was outstanding in the middle of the park.

All in all, young players are continuing to make an impact across the CPL in the most important part of the season.

Coming up next…

Wednesday, Oct. 7

Inter Toronto vs. FC Supra du Québec
11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT (OneSoccer, RDS.ca)

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

Saturday, Oct. 10

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

Sunday, Oct. 11

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

Monday, Oct. 12

Forge FC vs. Inter Toronto
1 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT (OneSoccer, TSN)

Halifax Wanderers vs. Cavalry FC
4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT (OneSoccer)

Photo of the Week

Sergei Kozlovskiy and Atlético Ottawa were fired up after a huge win over Cavalry.

(Photo by Phil Lariviere)