Sometimes, soccer can be pretty simple.
For all the matchups, tactics, squad selection, and set-play routines that contributed to Cavalry FC's success this season, a basic strategy has been crucial.
"We have a simple saying for a lot of our young lads: Just pass the ball to the good players," said Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
Simple, but effective. The team's talisman, Tobias Warschewski, touched the ball more times this season (1,300) than any other in his CPL career.
"If I was playing as a defender, 'There you go, Tobi'," said Wheeldon Jr., "suddenly I've got a good pass count. He's now got the ball, and he's going to do Tobi things."
"So football should be a lot simpler. He makes it complicated because he's a complex artist. But other players can just find him, and if they find them, it makes their job good, and it makes his better."
No time has that strategy proven more effective than in the playoffs. In seven career CPL postseason matches, Warschewski has a CPL-record six goals to go with an assist.
The last time the CPL Final was in Calgary, in 2024, he was named the Final MVP, scoring the opener and setting up the match-winner. As the final returns to ATCO Field on Saturday, Nov. 21, Warschewski's artistry could once again define the biggest game of the year.
A year ago, Cavalry FC met this very same Atlético Ottawa team in the 2025 CPL Final in Ottawa. Cavalry finished with 18 fewer points that season than they had this year.
After winning the league's Golden Boot in 2024, last year wasn't a banner season for Warschewski either. Following an incredible start to the campaign, the 28-year-old German scored just three times in the final 18 matches of the year.
"I told the coach after I had my exit meeting last year, 'Okay, next year I will lock in'," said Warschewski. "So far, it's going good."
It's fair to say "good" is an understatement. Warschewski and Cavalry have already lifted one trophy this year, the CPL Shield, and the club set a single-season CPL record for goals scored with 58. Warschewski played a direct role in 21 of those, scoring 11 times and breaking the single-season CPL assist record with 10.
Warschewski has been nominated for the CPL's Player of the Year award and is also on the 10-man shortlist for the Players' Player of the Year.
Central to this success has been a positional shift for the German attacker. After playing the majority of his first two seasons in Calgary as a striker, this year he moved back as more of a number ten behind Caniggia Elva. The new flexibility the position has offered undoubtedly got the best out of Warschewski.
"I feel like I get much more freedom in ways," said Warschewski. "Playing with Caniggia helps me a lot because he's more the target player, and the center backs need to worry about him, and I can chip it into him. I play off him...and of course, set pieces. I'm taking set pieces now. It's a big thing too. I would not have so many [assists] if I had not taken set pieces. But I know that I can create chances too."
Traditionally in the sport, someone of Warschewski's height and physical stature is preferred in the box on set plays. But during preseason, he convinced Cavalry's coaches to let him be the one to deliver them.
Seven of his ten assists have come from dead-ball situations, and he created a league-leading 31 chances from set pieces this season.
Like any good artist, Warschewski has always rejected being put in a box, or in this case, put in the box.
"I think in my height, and I'm a striker, everyone sees me [and thinks] 'Oh, he needs to be a hold-up player,'" said Warschewski. "But I want to be something different; I like to dribble, I like to take players on, and I will continue doing it."
It took time and convincing for him to prove to the Cavalry staff that this was the best way to deploy him. But that mutual trust has paid off significantly this season.
Warschewski tries to treat every game equally. But there is no doubt that when the lights get the brightest, there is an extra little glimmer in his eye, and spring in his step.
"I think come playoff time, Tobias Warschewski turns into a different beast," said Cavalry defender Daan Klomp.
All eyes will once again be on him at ATCO Field on Nov. 21 as Cavalry FC try to make history and become the first CPL club to win the regular season and playoff double.
"I like the pressure, I deal well with pressure, I'm just happy to have this pressure because I feel like it gets the best out of me," said Warschewski. "And for me, yeah, I love playoffs."
In last year's final in the snow, Warschewski wasn't able to have the impact he wanted. But with three goals and an assist in three games against Atlético Ottawa this season, he and Cavalry are ready to flip the script.
