2019 Cavalry FC season

The 2019 Cavalry FC season was the first season in the club's history, as well as the first season in Canadian Premier League history.

Overview On May 17, 2018 Cavalry FC was unveiled as Calgary's team in the new Canadian Premier League, with then Calgary Foothills FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. chosen to be the first head coach in Cavalry history. On November 29, 2018, Cavalry signed its first ever players: veteran Nik Ledgerwood and young talent Sergio Camargo, both from the Foothills. Overall, 12 of the players on the Cavalry squad came from the Foothills. Cavalry's first ever international signing was Brazilian striker Oliver Minatel. Cavalry signed two of its picks in the 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft, first overall pick Gabriel Bitar and fourteenth overall pick Joel Waterman.

On May 3, 2019, Cavalry played their first ever game, at home against York9 FC. Jordan Brown scored the first goal in Cavalry FC history, with Dominick Zator adding a second and Cavalry hanging on for a 2–1 victory. Cavalry went on to win their first seven games, until succumbing to Forge FC in a 1–0 defeat. However, Cavalry rebounded and defeated York9 2–0 in their next game, clinching the spring season title and a berth in the 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals.

In the Canadian Championship, Cavalry faced Pacific FC in the first round and won both legs. Next, they were up against Forge. In the first leg in Hamilton, Forge struck first, but there was late drama when Forge FC goalkeeper Quillan Roberts received a red card in stoppage time, with no substitutions remaining. Cavalry was given a penalty shot, and Dominique Malonga beat midfielder turned goalkeeper Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson to tie the game. Tensions were high after the goal, and Cavalry players accused a member of Forge's coaching staff of making racist remarks. The match ended with a melee between Cavalry and Forge players, establishing a rivalry that would continue to take shape for the rest of the season. In the second leg, Forge opened the scoring again, but goals from Malonga and Camargo meant that it was Cavalry who advanced to the quarterfinals. Cavalry faced MLS club Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the quarterfinals and in the first leg the Cavs held the Whitecaps to a 0–0 draw at home. In the second leg at BC Place in Vancouver, Brown and Zator scored in a 2–1 victory and goalkeeper Marco Carducci, who used to play for the Whitecaps, was praised for his performance. Cavalry became the first CPL team to defeat an MLS team, and advanced to the semifinals, where they were awaited by the Montreal Impact. In the first leg of the semifinals, Ignacio Piatti scored twice for the Impact, but Cavalry was given hope when Camargo scored later in the game. It was not meant to be, however, as Cavalry couldn't get another one and Ledgerwood received a second yellow card, forcing Cavalry to play the last part of the game with 10 men. A 1–0 defeat back in Calgary ended the Cinderella story and the Impact ended up defeating Toronto FC in the finals to become the champions.

Although Cavalry was already secured a spot in the CPL finals, they won the fall season as well, causing Forge FC to qualify as the other finalist on the basis of having the next best overall record. In the first leg of the finals in Hamilton, Waterman was given a red card and Forge star and CPL top scorer Tristan Borges was given a penalty kick, but it was stopped by Carducci. However, Borges scored ten minutes later and the game ended at 1–0. Neither team could score in the second leg, until in stoppage time when all of Cavalry's outfield players were pressing in the attacking zone, and Forge managed to break out. David Choinière managed to score on the resulting 2 on 0, securing Cavalry's fate as runners up.

Over the course of the season, Carducci and Zator were called up to the Canada men's national soccer team once each, but neither saw action. Carducci was the first Canadian Premier League player to be called up to the national team.

Despite losing in the finals, Cavalry finished first overall in the regular season, and Wheeldon Jr. stated that he would like to bring most of the players back for the next season. Wheeldon Jr. was named coach of the year, and Carducci was named best goalkeeper and Volkswagen Premier Performer, while Malonga was nominated for best player.

Squad As of November 2, 2019.

No. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth (age) Previous club Goalkeepers 1 Marco Carducci GK Calgary Foothills 22 Niko Giantsopoulos GK Launceston City Defenders 2 Chris Serban RB Calgary Foothills 3 Nathan Mavila LB Dulwich Hamlet 4 Dominick Zator CB Calgary Foothills 5 Mason Trafford CB Miami FC 12 Dean Northover FB Calgary Foothills 14 Jonathan Wheeldon CB Calgary Foothills 15 Joel Waterman CB Trinity Western Spartans Midfielders 6 Nik Ledgerwood DM / RB Calgary Foothills 8 Julian Büscher CM LA Galaxy II 10 Sergio Camargo AM Calgary Foothills 11 José Escalante LW Juticalpa 13 Victor Loturi CM Calgary Northside Soccer 16 Elijah Adekugbe MF Calgary Foothills 17 Nico Pasquotti RW Calgary Foothills 18 Mauro Eustáquio CM Penn FC 20 Carlos Patiño AM Calgary Foothills 21 Malyk Hamilton RW / RB Toronto FC II 25 Tofa Fakunle AM Calgary Foothills Forwards 7 Oliver Minatel ST / LW / RW South Melbourne 9 Jordan Brown ST Znojmo 23 Dominique Malonga ST Chania 24 Aribim Pepple ST Calgary Foothills

Transfers

In No.Pos.PlayerTransferred fromFee/notesDateSource6 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferNovember 29, 201810 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferNovember 29, 20181 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferDecember 12, 20182 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferDecember 12, 20184 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferDecember 12, 201816 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferDecember 12, 20187 South MelbourneFree TransferJanuary 16, 201922 Launceston CityFree TransferJanuary 23, 201912 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferJanuary 23, 201920 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferJanuary 23, 201917 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferJanuary 23, 20199 ZnojmoFree TransferJanuary 30, 201915 Trinity Western SpartansSelected 14th overall in the 2018 CPL–U Sports DraftFebruary 6, 20198 LA Galaxy IIFree TransferFebruary 13, 20193 Dulwich HamletFree TransferFebruary 20, 20195 Miami FCFree TransferFebruary 27, 201921 Toronto FC IIFree TransferMarch 6, 201914 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferMarch 13, 201918 Penn FCFree TransferMarch 20, 201923 ChaniaFree TransferMarch 27, 201911 JuticalpaFree TransferApril 10, 201913 Calgary Northside SoccerFree TransferApril 17, 201919 Carleton RavensSelected 1st overall in the 2018 CPL–U Sports DraftApril 24, 201924 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferAugust 9, 201925 Calgary FoothillsFree TransferAugust 28, 2019

Draft picks Cavalry FC selected the following players in the 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft on November 12, 2018. Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. RoundSelectionPlayerPos.NationalityUniversity11Carleton Ravens214Trinity Western Spartans315Alberta Golden Bears

Out No.Pos.PlayerTransferred toFee/notesDateSource19 Carleton RavensDevelopmental Contract expired

Competitions Match times are Mountain Daylight Time (UTC−6).

Preseason

Canadian Premier League

Spring season

League table

Results summary

Results by match

Matches

Fall season

League table

Results summary

Results by match

Matches

CPL Finals

Canadian Championship

First qualifying round

Second qualifying round

Third qualifying round

Semi-finals

Statistics

Squad and statistics

|colspan="14"|Players who left during the season:

Top scorers {| class="wikitable sortable alternance" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center; line-height:14px; width:85%;" |- !width=10|Rank !width=10|Nat. ! scope="col" style="width:275px;"|Player !width=10|Pos. !width=80|CPL Spring season !width=80|CPL Fall season !width=80|CPL Finals !width=80|Canadian Championship !width=80|TOTAL |- |1|||| Dominique Malonga || FW || 4 || 7 || 0 || 2 ||13 |- |rowspan=2|2|||| Sergio Camargo || MF || 3 || 3 || 0 || 2 ||8 |- ||| Oliver Minatel || FW || 0 || 7 || 0 || 1 ||8 |- |4|||| Julian Büscher || MF || 1 || 4 || 0 || 1 ||6 |- |rowspan=2|5|||| Jordan Brown || FW || 2 || 2 || 0 || 1 ||5 |- ||| Nico Pasquotti || MF || 2 || 3 || 0 || 0 ||5 |- |7|||| José Escalante || MF || 1 || 3 || 0 || 0 ||4 |- |rowspan=2|8|||| Nik Ledgerwood || MF || 1 || 2 || 0 || 0 ||3 |- ||| Dominick Zator || DF || 1 || 0 || 0 || 2 ||3 |- |rowspan=2|10|||| Elijah Adekugbe || MF || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 ||1 |- ||| Joel Waterman || DF || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 ||1 |- |colspan="4"|Own goals || 1 || 2 || 0 || 1 || 4 |- |- class="sortbottom" | colspan="4"|Totals||16||35||0||10||61

Top assists {| class="wikitable sortable alternance" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center; line-height:14px; width:85%;" |- !width=10|Rank !width=10|Nat. ! scope="col" style="width:275px;"|Player !width=10|Pos. !width=80|CPL Spring season !width=80|CPL Fall season !width=80|CPL Finals !width=80|Canadian Championship !width=80|TOTAL |- |rowspan=2|1|||| José Escalante || MF || 1 || 3 || 0 || 2 ||6 |- ||| Nico Pasquotti || MF || 1 || 2 || 0 || 3 ||6 |- |rowspan=2|3|||| Elijah Adekugbe || MF || 3 || 1 || 0 || 0 ||4 |- ||| Julian Büscher || MF || 0 || 4 || 0 || 0 ||4 |- |rowspan=3|5|||| Sergio Camargo || MF || 0 || 3 || 0 || 0 ||3 |- ||| Malyk Hamilton || MF || 0 || 2 || 0 || 1 ||3 |- ||| Dominick Zator || DF || 0 || 3 || 0 || 0 ||3 |- |rowspan=2|8|||| Dominique Malonga || FW || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 ||2 |- ||| Joel Waterman || DF || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 ||2 |- |rowspan=5|10|||| Jordan Brown || FW || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 ||1 |- ||| Nik Ledgerwood || MF || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 ||1 |- ||| Nathan Mavila || DF || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 ||1 |- ||| Oliver Minatel || FW || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 ||1 |- ||| Carlos Patiño || MF || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 ||1 |- |- class="sortbottom" | colspan="4"|Totals||7||23||0||8||38

Clean sheets {| class="wikitable sortable alternance" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center; line-height:14px; width:85%;" |- !width=10|Rank !width=10|Nat. ! scope="col" style="width:275px;"|Player !width=80|CPL Spring season !width=80|CPL Fall season !width=80|CPL Finals !width=80|Canadian Championship !width=80|TOTAL |- |1|||| Marco Carducci || 5 || 4 || 0 || 1 ||10 |- |2|||| Niko Giantsopoulos || 0 || 3 || 0 || 1 ||4 |- |- class="sortbottom" | colspan="3"|Totals||5||7||0||2||14

Disciplinary record {| class="wikitable sortable alternance" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center; line-height:14px; width:85%;" |- !rowspan="2" width=10|No. !rowspan="2" width=10|Pos. !rowspan="2" width=10|Nat. !rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:275px;"|Player !colspan="2" width=80|CPL Spring season !colspan="2" width=80|CPL Fall season !colspan="2" width=80|CPL Finals !colspan="2" width=80|Canadian Championship !colspan="2" width=80|TOTAL |- ! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! |- |1||GK|||| Marco Carducci ||0||0||1||0||0||0||0||0||1||0 |- |3||DF|||| Nathan Mavila ||1||0||1||1||0||0||3||0||5||1 |- |5||DF|||| Mason Trafford ||0||0||1||0||1||0||0||0||2||0 |- |6||MF|||| Nik Ledgerwood ||0||0||2||0||2||0||1||1||5||1 |- |7||FW|||| Oliver Minatel ||1||0||2||0||1||0||0||0||4||0 |- |8||MF|||| Julian Büscher ||3||0||2||0||0||0||0||0||5||0 |- |9||FW|||| Jordan Brown ||0||0||2||0||0||0||0||0||2||0 |- |10||MF|||| Sergio Camargo ||1||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||0 |- |11||MF|||| José Escalante ||0||0||2||1||1||0||2||0||5||1 |- |12||DF|||| Dean Northover ||2||1||0||0||0||0||1||0||3||1 |- |13||MF|||| Victor Loturi ||1||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||0 |- |14||DF|||| Jonathan Wheeldon ||3||0||1||0||2||0||1||0||7||0 |- |15||DF|||| Joel Waterman ||3||0||1||0||0||1||1||0||5||1 |- |16||MF|||| Elijah Adekugbe ||3||0||3||0||0||0||1||0||7||0 |- |17||MF|||| Nico Pasquotti ||2||0||3||0||1||0||0||0||6||0 |- |18||MF|||| Mauro Eustáquio ||1||1||1||0||0||0||0||0||2||1 |- |21||MF|||| Malyk Hamilton ||0||0||1||0||0||0||0||0||1||0 |- |22||GK|||| Niko Giantsopoulos ||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||0||1||0