Cavalry FC are off to the Canadian Championship quarter-final after a nervy 3-1 victory over Pacific FC at Starlight Stadium on Saturday.
For a second consecutive match, in two different competitions, Tobias Warschewski scored a late winner from the spot -- after doing the same to Supra last weekend in the CPL.
But it wasn't as simple as the scoreline would suggest, as Cavalry needed those late heroics after a strong Pacific second half.
The biggest changes for both sides in this match came in attack, with Pacific giving Buul Juach his first start up top. Cavalry, meanwhile, shifted Tobias Warschewski into the number 10 position, allowing Caniggia Elva to lead the line.
Cavalry controlled the action through the opening stages and had a great chance in the 21st minute, when Bradley Kamdem cut into the box and forced a good save from Eleias Himaras.
Four minutes later, however, Kamdem played provider on a lovely low cross into the box that Klomp beat his man to and struck past Himaras.
On the smaller Starlight Stadium pitch, Klomp had been given license to get forward into midfield in possession, pushing Camargo forward. The tactic paid off quickly.
Pacific had a chance to respond almost immediately, but Matthew Baldisimo sent his strike from the top of the box just wide.
Cavalry forced one more good save out of Himaras before the half, on a header from Caniggia Elva in stoppage time. That was the final action of the half, with visitors heading back to the room carrying a 1-0 lead.
Not happy with what he had seen through the early stages of the second half, Pacific coach James Merriman elected to bring on Alejandro Díaz and Roshawn Jumhi.
Pacific created a few more chances, particularly from set pieces as the half wore on, and in the 78th minute, finally found a moment of joy. On the second phase of a corner kick, Yann Toualey picked out Joshua Belluz at the back, and the central defender's guided header equalized 1-1.
Looking to build on the moment, Pacific immediately injected attackers Ronan Kratt and Aidan Daniels into the game.
Unfortunately for Kratt, his major impact on the game came less than ten minutes later, as he brought down Sergio Camargo in the box to send Cavalry to the spot.
Tobias Warschewski, despite slipping slightly, stepped up and smashed home the penalty to give Cavalry a 2-1 lead in the 88th minute.
Cavalry put the match to bed late as Michael Baldisimo tapped home a great delivery from Goteh Ntignee to make it 3-1. It was Baldisimo's first goal for Cavalry FC.
Cavalry advance to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps, winners of four straight TELUS Canadian Championships in the home-and-away quarter-finals.
This will be Cavalry's fourth meeting with the Whitecaps in this competition, and all of the previous editions have been incredibly close. After Cavalry stunned the Whitecaps 2-1 on aggregate in their inaugural foray into the Canadian Championship in 2019, they lost to the Caps on penalties in 2022, and away goals in 2024.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Pacific FC: Himaras; Marshall (Belluz 46"), Lajeunesse (Kratt 79'), Konincks, Chung; Gomulka, Baldisimo (Juhmi 58'); Toualy, Bustos, Heard (Daniels 80'); Juach (Díaz 58')
Cavalry FC: Ingham; Kamdem (Ofori 73'), Didić, Klomp, Laing (Pearlman 69'); Kobza, Camargo; Musse (Baldisimo 84'), Warschewski, Ntignee; Elva (Herdman 69')
Goals
24' — Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC)
78' -- Joshua Belluz (Pacific FC)
88' -- Tobias Warschewski (Cavalry FC)
90+4' -- Michael Baldisimo (Cavalry FC)
Discipline
18' — Yellow: Tristan Marshall (Pacific FC)
50' -- Yellow: Kadin Chung (Pacific FC)
84' -- Yellow: Ali Musse (Cavalry FC)
85' -- Yellow: Marco Bustos (Pacific FC)
CPLSoccer.com Player of the Match
Dan Klomp, Cavalry FC
Stepping up into midfield in possession, Klomp helped Cavalry control the centre of the park, and opened the scoring with a lovely goal in the 24th minute on a clever run into the box.