Cavalry FC won the Canadian Premier League title Saturday afternoon, defeating defending champion Forge FC 2-1.
Tobias Warschewski scored on a penalty kick in the 31st minute and Sergio Camargo fired home what turned out to be the winner around seven minutes later.
After the break, Forge FC cut the deficit in half when Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson redirected a loose ball in front of Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci into the net.
Cavalry stiffened on defence however and were able to shut the 2023 champs down after that.
The Hamilton side pressed and pressed as time wound down but failed to get the equalizer.
The spectators — led by the Foot Soldiers, the official fan support group of Cavalry FC — chanted, screamed and sang through the final seven minutes of injury time.
The record sold-out crowd 7, 052 at ATCO Field roared when the ref blew the whistle after seven-and-a-half minutes of added time.
Cavalry players and coaches hugged one another and wiped tears from their eyes after “slaying the dragon” and beating the four-time champion Forge.
In 2019, Forge beat Cavalry in the first CPL Cup final with a 2-0 aggregate win in the two-game series.
Then came a 2-1 victory for Forge in extra time at Tim Hortons Field in 2023.
Warschewski was named Finals MVP.
Cavalry FC are the third CPL team to win the championship. The others are Forge FC (2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023 and Pacific FC (2021)
The CPL currently has teams in eight cities: Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and Halifax.
Both teams have qualified for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup, the region’s elite club championship.
With files from The Canadian Press