It’s down to home field advantage—Forge has lost just once in 14 CPL matches at Hamilton Stadium this year—but for that field to yield its maximum harvest, the live audience must be a major part of the advantage.
That means not only noise, which is never a problem for the Hammers’ pounding faithful, but numbers.
The circumstances are as right as they’ll ever be. Here’s Forge exiting eastern Ontario with a 2-2 draw with Atlético in Sunday’s wildly entertaining opening leg of the two-game total-goal CPL semifinal, 90 minutes and a one-goal margin from qualifying for their seventh championship final in the league’s eight seasons. But Atlético is feeling encouraged about themselves after a good and stylish performance against a perennial winner who has generally had their number.
Forge is showing great intestinal fortitude despite two of their biggest stars—retired captain Kyle Bekker and versatile striker Lucas Cavallini—being injured and unavailable last weekend and a third, Nana Ampomah, just returning to playing form.
And it’s a Saturday afternoon game (1 p.m. OneSoccer and TSN), a perfect time for soccer in November, 10 months—almost to the day—after Forge returned from a brief off-season to start training for the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Speaking of which, the Hammers have already qualified for the 2027 Champions Cup with the biggest win in team records and the Canadian Premier League annals, by becoming the first non-MLS team since the format went all-pro ever to win the Voyageurs Cup as Canadian champions. Their shootout win two weeks ago over CF Montréal in the unfriendly confines of Stade Saputo was one of the greatest wins in the history of Hamilton sport, any sport, and Saturday will be the first time the team plays at home since they pulled off the once unimaginable.
This team has done everything it could do to earn the kind of support which befits winning a national title in what is by far the world’s most popular sport... and in a World Cup year no less. A huge crowd would indicate that Hamilton understands and appreciates what the Hammers have done and continue to do. They have a big following, but deserve bigger, especially as the season winnows down to its biggest money moments. The Forge have already cashed in once and are looking to add a second trophy and fifth league title, with a win against Ottawa and then a one-game winner-take-all victory against the survivor of the Supra-Cavalry semifinal.
Fans are guaranteed that Forge plays an entertaining, attacking game, backed by veteran defending and quick-reaction goalkeeping from find-of-the-year Dimitry Bertaud. They are always on the front foot, but so too are the Atlético, who are creative in their attack and have developed a physical, angry rivalry with Forge. Not quite Calgary-Hamilton, but very physical, as they’ve become increasingly acquainted with each other’s tendencies, strengths and shortcomings through several playoff meetings. And Ottawa, which won its first league title last season, still has institutional memories of losing the 2022 league title to Forge right on Ottawa’s home field. So, add a measure of revenge to the plethora of things going on in this series.
The two sides played at a blistering pace of offensive attacks and counterattacks through Sunday’s first half, with Ottawa twice coming back to erase one-goal Hamilton leads. Anthony Aromatario got Forge on the board in the 15th minute; Diego Gutiérrez tied it eight minutes later; Mark Jevremović put Forge back up in the 35th with a screaming shot from distance that left a vapour trail, only to have Ballou Tabla equalize it, also eight minutes after Forge had taken the lead.
Overall, both teams had some great saves, both had misses they’d like back, both hit the woodwork, both had seemingly certain goals repelled by a field player at the goal line, and both teams made enough mistakes to keep it rivetingly interesting. And there was some clear bad blood.
"It's a playoff game," said veteran Ottawa captain Manny Aparicio, who was a two-way threat all night. "There's always a little bit extra you're fighting for. Yeah, it was chippy; it was coming back and forth. As a fan, it was quite an amazing game to watch."
Forge was strong, especially considering it was their third consecutive road game, but they do need to tighten the bolts on a couple of things, including penetrating the offence box with more authoritative finish and exercising better control on the turn-and-go moves of Tabla, Guitiérrez and Aparicio.
"In these games, whether it's Ottawa or somebody else, you have to always get rid of the micro transitions," Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis said after the game. "That's a transition upon the transition. Today, there's about six moments in the first half where we've won the ball, and we've given it right back, and those are the things that you have to avoid, one of the key principles of this game."
Forge has a thick portfolio of adjustments, and fans should expect more of that fine-tuning on Saturday. They should also expect a team that plays with the relentlessness of eight-time trophy winners, a team that should be celebrated with a big, advantage-providing, home crowd.