A cross-field pass cut through the cold Calgary air, controlled by the chest of attacker Tobias Warschewski into the path of Harry Paton.
The midfielder flicked the ball over an oncoming Atlético Ottawa defender, and back to Warschewski in space. Warschewski ran onto the ball, slowing play down and allowing his teammates to join in the attack. He took one touch with his left foot, before slipping captain Sergio Camargo into the box with his right.
Looking across the line, Camargo cut the ball back into the centre of the area for Paton, who, continuing his run, side-footed the ball past Atleti goalkeeper Tristan Crampton. His second goal in as many games this season, the Kitchener, Ont. native put Cavalry up 2-0 against the defending CPL champions in just 22 minutes.
It was a goal that played out in Cavalry coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.'s mind's eye when he put pen to paper with Paton back in February.
"He was brought in to contribute goals from midfield," said Wheeldon Jr. after the match. "In this league, you're going to play against good defensive blocks. So if they're going to double-team Tobi or Musse, or Goteh [Ntignee] or Sergio, you've got to add another option."
That late run is the one that has been missing for Cavalry the past few seasons. With two goals in two games, Paton has already matched or surpassed the output of any other Cavalry midfielder not named Camargo from all of 2025.
During an off-season where Cavalry added Nate Ingham in goal, brought in Adam Pearlman and Amer Didić to secure a dominant backline, and signed Nathaniel Edwards to an already stacked attack, midfield was perhaps the biggest question mark coming into this season. With his marauding ability to affect all aspects of the game, Paton has proven to be a big answer to those questions.
Wheeldon Jr. and Paton first met over a decade ago when the Cavalry gaffer was an assistant with the Canadian U-17 national team. At the time, Paton was a teenager in the youth academy of English Premier League club Fulham FC. He remained in the UK until this past year, largely in Scotland with Hearts, then Ross County and then Motherwell.
In September, Paton returned home to Canada, joining Forge FC for the final few months of the Canadian Premier League season. He made just six appearances in all competitions, by that point a complementary player on a Forge team that lost just twice in the regular season en route to lifting the 2025 CPL Shield.
Signing with rivals Cavalry this off-season, it was immediately clear that he would be a much bigger piece of their revamped midfield. So far, it has been a perfect pairing.
"Harry's brought so much energy," said Cavalry FC defender Daan Klomp. "He can cover a lot of distance, and with that also make it in the box. He's a midfielder that can score goals. You've seen that now, two goals in two games. It's been something very special. And he's also doing the defensive work, so tracking the seams, intercepting a lot of plays. So it's great to have him on our side."
The goals are important, but Paton's bread and butter is that energetic box-to-box coverage he brings in the middle of the park. Through two matches, he's already won 15 duels and won possession 13 times -- third most in the league. He has also created five chances, tied with teammate Warschewski for most in the CPL so far this season.
With two victories under their belt already, this past Saturday's 3-1 home opener win over Atlético Ottawa, and a 2-1 win over Pacific at Starlight Stadium on matchweek one, Cavalry FC carry plenty of momentum into this weekend's rivalry clash with Forge FC in Hamilton (4 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. MT on TSN5, OneSoccer).
For Paton, the match will carry a particular significance. It will be the first time in his professional career that he gets to play against his brother Ben, as he faces his former club Forge FC. It's another intriguing storyline in a fixture already chock-full of them.
What is quickly emerging as a key story this CPL season is how good the typically slow-starting Cavalry have looked so far. Unquestionably, a key catalyst in that hot start has been Paton.
