CALGARY — Cavalry open their Canadian Premier League semifinal on Sunday in Laval, facing FC Supra du Québec in the first leg at Stade Boréale (2 p.m. MT).
The Shield is already theirs, sealed last Sunday with a 1-0 win over Vancouver FC at ATCO Field. The championship is the other half of a double no regular season winner in this league has ever completed.
"History shows that it's an impossible task," head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. said on Friday's pre-match media call. "But I like that. Somebody has to do it. If we're going to be the greatest team the league's had, we have to win both."
Caniggia Elva, who set up Ali Musse's winner in the Shield decider, said the group allowed itself a short celebration before turning the page. "We had a few days to celebrate the Shield," Elva said. "We forget about the Shield now and it's just a focus on the playoffs. It's a new chance again to win something."
Asked what he needs from Musse and Tobias Warschewski on Sunday, Wheeldon started with the obvious and landed somewhere else. "Goals. Hard work," he said. "I don't give him enough love, same with Tobi, for their defensive work. Moosey's arguably our most in-form player right now. Tobi could become the MVP of the league, 21 goal involvements in 27 games. They're among the highest in terms of running data. They work so hard off the ball. The top teams do both sides of the ball."
Wheeldon pointed to Musse tracking back and winning the ball in the Vancouver game as the standard. "That's the mentality that's scary and probably doesn't get celebrated enough," he said. "That's what helps you lift trophies."
The format is new again, two legs for the first time since 2019, and Wheeldon's instruction is to play the game in front of them. "Be conscious that it is a two leg, but not make it be in our conscious," he said. "We want to just go there, play the game to beat them, and then worry about the next game after that."
Elva scored a late equalizer the last time Cavalry visited Stade Boréale, and he expects the same test in Supra's first-ever playoff game. "It's always difficult to play there. The turf is a little bit tricky," he said. "They have a new coach, so the players are trying to prove themselves for next season. But we're just more focused on us." On the playoffs themselves, he added, "there's not much room for error," and Cavalry will need "that killer mentality and those killer moments where you put teams away."
Harry Paton is back from suspension, trained this week and travels with the team. "He'll feel like a new signing," Wheeldon said. "Harry gives us depth and experience in midfield. I think that's important in cagey games like this." The club's on-loan right back will not play Sunday; Wheeldon said he will be available for the second leg. Cavalry also trained on turf this week to prepare for the Stade Boréale surface.
The second leg is Saturday, Nov. 7 at ATCO Field (3 p.m. MT), with the winner advancing to the league final on Nov. 21 or 22.
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