The Cavs are playoff bound for a fourth consecutive season.
Ali Musse broke a 1-1 deadlock with a sublime strike in the 81st minute as Cavalry FC (13-5-9) clinched a berth in the Canadian Premier League post-season with a 2-1 triumph Sunday afternoon at Spruce Meadows’ ATCO Field.
“When we set out our goals at the start of the season, we had to get back into the playoffs,” said Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. at the post-game press conference. “No matter how you start the race, it’s how you finish it that counts.
“We’ve topped the table and not picked up any silverware…but a playoff championship is a lot and we just had to finish above the line.”
Cavalry saw its first chance to clinch slip away the week prior with Atlético Ottawa playing spoiler en route to being the first team to qualify for the playoffs.
Lining up against a Valour team fighting for its playoff lives, the Cavs completed the task with one game left to move up the standings with the top four teams — Ottawa, Forge FC, Pacific FC and the Cavalry — making up the playoff contingent.
“We knew we had three bites at the cherry, it didn’t work last week and we knew we wanted to take this one and not leave it to the last game of the season,” the coach added. “The last game of the season is an absolute bonus for where we finish in the table.”
On Sunday, striker Joe Mason opened the scoring with a cross from Musse connecting with the face of the forward in the 39th minute.
Forge drew back even just three minutes into the second half through Billy Forbes on the heels of a poor clearance from the Cavalry.
In the 81st minute, Musse stepped into the spotlight with a picture perfect shot outside the box to beat Valour’s Rayane Yesli from distance in dramatic fashion.
“He’s got magic in him, we’ve seen it. I think he’s hit the crossbar two or three times this season,” Wheeldon Jr. added. “He’s got a wand of a left foot and it’s funny, I’ve worked with him for several years now, he loves the big game.
“I think we were tired of having goals of the season put on us so it’s nice now because of the moment it’s in, we needed to win and the manner he did it was brilliant. And I would even give Marco (Carducci) big credit for that save at the end to protect the win.”
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Musse, who played for Valour FC during the 2019 season, said he knew right away his left foot struck the ball sweetly.
“As soon as I connected I felt it was a great connection,” said Musse. “And I knew exactly where I wanted it to go.”
In addition to the talismanic efforts up front, Wheeldon Jr. tipped his cap to the grunt work done by central midfielders Elliot Simmons and Elijah Adekugbe and the backline to get the result over the line.
“There’s no pictures on the scoreboard and sometimes winning ugly feels better,” he said. “And I wouldn’t say it was ugly, it was just we’ve dominated teams in possession and I was tired of seeing 70-30 in possession and 20-5 in shots for.
“Valour needed to come out and beat us so we altered our gameplan a little bit, you’ve seen we changed shape and we had this pre-planned throughout the week, up a goal, down a goal, we were going to manage the game.”
On the outside of the playoff picture after a strong surge down the stretch, the visiting gaffer said the difference came down to missed opportunities earlier in the campaign.
“I don’t think it was this game,” said Valour FC head coach Phillip Dos Santos. “To come to a place like this and fight the way we did and stay in the game and things, I felt, could have tipped on our side.
“I think when we look at the reason being and why we’re here in this situation where we’re playing for our lives, it’s because there were opportunities for us to maybe secure points that we weren’t able to secure previously.”
Cavalry FC lowers the curtain on its regular season at home on Oct. 8, a 4 p.m. start, against Pacific FC with home field advantage on the line.
The Cavs sit in third place with 44 points, one up on Pacific and tied with Forge with the Hamilton team owning a game in hand.
“It’s very important to play in front of your fans,” said Musse on the potential of home playoff games. “They give you energy, it’s nice to be at home, the pitch is amazing and those are little things that make a little difference.
“Either way, we’re going to compete to the end and give it our all.”
For more information, go to cavalryfc.canpl.ca
