Final Score: Cavalry FC 1-1 Vancouver FC
Goalscorers: Warschewski 90+5′; Mezquida 19′
Game of the 2025 season: 8
CPL match: 604

Match in a minute or less

Vancouver FC came painfully close to earning a first-ever victory over Cavalry FC on Friday night, only to be denied by a late equalizer from Tobias Warschewski in a thrilling 1-1 draw.

In Cavalry’s first home match at ATCO Field since winning the 2024 CPL Final, it was the Eagles who impressed. Playing an exciting and energetic brand of football, especially in the first half, they forced several brilliant saves from Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci after opening the scoring in the 19th minute through Nicolás Mezquida.

Both Vancouver FC and Cavalry are still in search of their first victory of the 2025 season, but this was the first point for both sides. Cavalry FC remain undefeated (3-3-0) in home openers at ATCO Field.

Three Observations

Vancouver FC’s aggressive press, workrate causes all kinds of issues for Cavalry FC

Since the start of the 2025 season, Vancouver FC manager Afshin Ghotbi has been clear in the way he wants his young team to play: energetic and aggressive. Citing the Canadian men’s national team as inspiration, Ghotbi envisions his team pressing relentlessly and playing with directness and a high tempo from opening whistle until the final whistle.

On Friday, they came painfully close to making that happen during an outstanding performance at ATCO Field where they nearly pressed the defending CPL Champions Cavalry FC to perfection.

It began up front, with Alejandro Díaz leading the line and Terran Campbell tucking in from the right wing and aggressively closing down Cavalry’s central defenders. A marauding Nicolás Mezquida consistently and tirelessly got forward from midfield and added a third prong to the initial press.

The trio combined exceptionally on the opening goal. From the right wing, Campbell closed down Cavalry defender Callum Montgomery’s passing lane, allowing Díaz to step in and strip the ball. Campbell then took the loose ball and carried it toward the box before sliding a pass into the path of Mezquida who scored his first CPL goal.

GOAL 🦅

Nicolas Mezquida opens the scoring for @vanfootballclub after a rare mistake from the defence 🧉#CanPL | 🔴 Watch LIVE on @onesoccer & TSN 3 pic.twitter.com/cO5dtSWYmT

— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) April 18, 2025

In possession, in a tactic that would certainly be familiar to Cavalry faithful, given Daan Klomp’s time with the club, Vancouver central defender David Norman Jr. stepped forward into midfield. This allowed Mezquida the license to get further forward, and offered Emrick Fotsing further support in the centre of the park — who himself was direct and dangerous when winning the ball back.

Meanwhile, Elage Bah on the left, and Kunle Dada-Luke on the right, gave Vancouver critical width both in terms of attacking moments — and put in a shift defensively to take time and space away from Cavalry’s wide attackers. The chart below of Vancouver’s average positions during the first half shows just how high their line of engagement was in aggressively pressing Cavalry’s backline.

Particularly in the first half, this system was tremendously effective, denying Cavalry the ability to play through the middle, while also limiting the time and space of their dangerous technicians out wide. Vancouver could use more work in their decision making after winning the ball back, but their instincts to go forward quickly are positive.

That system was matched with an outstanding workrate, with Vancouver winning 55.6 per cent of the duels on Friday night.

In the end, for 90+ minutes they fought, and on most days they leave ATCO Field with three points after that effort. But the next step in their evolution will be seeing out a match like that. Still, Friday’s performance was a significant step in the right direction for the Eagles.

Cavalry FC rescue point despite sluggish start after more Warschewski magic

For Cavalry FC fans who had waited 160 days to watch their side play at ATCO Field, Friday’s team looked a far cry from the group that played Forge off the park for large parts of the 2024 CPL Final.

Instead of being the aggressors, as they were on that Nov. 9 day, Cavalry were sluggish in possession, failing to break through the Vancouver lines and instead gifting the opposition plenty of opportunities in transition. They needed to be bailed out on multiple occasions by Marco Carducci, who finished the match with four saves, a few of them game-saving.

Particularly when trying to play through the middle of the park, and out of the back, Cavalry struggled. This improved slightly when Michael Baldisimo was inserted at the half, as he did a good job of dropping between the central defenders and helping the team progress the ball. But they still struggled to parlay that into clear-cut attacking opportunities.

In the end, Cavalry needed their German talisman to bail them out. In the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, Warschewski collected a ball won by Caniggia Elva just outside the Vancouver box, shifted to his right, and took a low driven shot across goal that fooled Vancouver FC goalkeeper Callum Irving. It was Warschewski’s fourth goal in six all-time matches against the Eagles in all competitions.

Cavalry need not apologize for having a player like the 2024 CPL Golden Boot winner who can deliver a moment of magic like that to earn a point. But they leave ATCO Field on Friday knowing they were miles off their usual standard.

17-year-old Canadian midfielder Emrick Fotsing dominant in midfield during second-ever professional start 

The words “football factory” find their way into the lexicon quite often at this point around Vancouver FC circles, and the latest talent on the assembly line looks to be 17-year-old midfielder Emrick Fotsing.

The Mascouche, Québec native, who joined the Eagles during the off-season after multiple years with CF Montréal’s youth system, including captaining their U-17 side, was making just his second professional start on Friday. In his first, during last week’s disaster against Atlético Ottawa, he lasted just 45 minutes.

Against Cavalry FC, however, Fotsing delivered a performance well beyond his years, which offered a clear glimpse at his immense potential. On the ball, he consistently and confidently looked to play forward, whether that was dribbling the ball up the pitch himself or playing vertical passes. He completed a solid 22 of his 28 attempted passes, showing good decision-making in the process in order to keep his team in possession.

Defensively, he used his size and strength brilliantly against some of the league’s top midfielders and attackers, winning seven of ten duels, and possession ten times.

“It’s his second start as a professional player, and I feel he was one of the best players on the park,” said Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi. “He has such a high ceiling. He has so much potential, he’s such a great student of the game, and his aptitude to learn and develop tactically and to play within the role. We’ve always known he’s going to be one of the new stars of Canadian football, and I’m hoping that in a very short period of time, he’ll be playing in a top club in Europe. I’m certain of that.”

What They Said

“I think that was a really poor first half, especially by our standards. And I think that’s what I challenged at half-time, good response, but you can’t give a team 45 minutes of football. It just doesn’t make sense to me. So we have to be better in our start. The only solace, really, is we’re still undefeated in all our home openers.” — Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.

“I think the most important thing we can take out of this game is the confidence that the players gain from the fact that they can achieve anything, anywhere, against any opponent. Cavalry is as good as it gets in this league, and for us to come here and outplay them, and I feel we outplayed them and deserved a win today. I think that gives our players a lot of confidence.” — Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi 

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Emrick Fotsing, Vancouver FC

In just his second ever professional start, Fotsing was outstanding in the centre of the park. At just 17, the sky is the limit for this player if he can continue to get minutes on a young Eagles team.

What’s next?

Cavalry FC remain at home, where they host Atlético Ottawa on Saturday, April 26 (7 p.m. MT / 5 p.m. ET). Vancouver, meanwhile, are also in action on April 26, back in Langley for the first Salish Sea Derby of 2025 against rivals Pacific FC (5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET).

Watch all CPL matches live on OneSoccer. In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.