Cavalry drops second straight in 3-1 loss to Inter Toronto

TORONTO — First-place Cavalry FC's rough road trip got rougher Saturday, as Inter Toronto FC struck twice in the opening 12 minutes and went on to a 3-1 win at York Lions Stadium.

Sebastián Gonzáles opened the scoring in the sixth minute off a feed from Ariel Almagro, and Steffen Yeates doubled the lead six minutes later from Max Ferrari's setup. Cavalry pushed back — 18 shots on the afternoon, five on target — but couldn't break through before halftime, and head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. went to his bench at the break, sending Harrison Paton on for 19-year-old James McGlinchey and shifting Nathaniel Edwards to right-back.

The change gave Cavalry more of the ball, but the next goal went the other way. In the 69th minute Almagro sparked another transition; Nathan Ingham denied him and then Gonzáles on the rebound, but Yeates arrived to finish the loose ball for his second of the day and a 3-0 Toronto lead. Eryk Kobza pulled one back for the visitors late off a corner, but the comeback never materialized.

Almagro was named player of the match after assisting on all three Toronto goals. It was Toronto's first win over Cavalry since last September, and it kept their playoff push alive in fifth place.

"We beat ourselves today," Wheeldon Jr. said. "That's pretty obvious, because we're fighting for everything near the end, but you give any team in this league two goals, it's a tough ask to come back. ... The table doesn't change, nor does the mission. We know what we need to do in the next three games."

The loss was Cavalry's second in three days after Thursday's 3-2 defeat at Atlético Ottawa. The Cavs remain top of the Canadian Premier League, but second-place Forge — six points back — plays twice before Cavalry returns to action.

Cavalry visits the Halifax Wanderers on Monday, Oct. 12. Kickoff is 4 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. MT.

This recap is brought to you in part by Animas Painting — interior and exterior painting in Calgary. Reach Rafael at 403-604-5529.