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Prior to the game, Tommy Wheeldon Jr. had preached patience.
The Cavalry FC boss couldn’t have predicted how prescient those words would be.
His team knew it wouldn’t be tough breaking down a very good defensive Pacific FC side. They don’t give up much.
But for 90 minutes the Cavs had thrown everything they had at the Pacific goal, only to be rebuffed each and every time by outstanding keeper Emil Gazdov.
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With time ticking down, defender Daan Klomp had a header turned away on the line and everyone at ATCO Field could have been forgiven for feeling like that was that. If point-blank headers from a few feet away are being miraculously stopped, maybe it’s just not your day, right?
Fortunately, Klomp wasn’t satisfied with a draw in the Canadian Premier League contest. When he found the ball at his feet a few short minutes later as the game went into added time, the Dutch defender made no mistake in sliding the ball past a helpless Gazdov and into the back of the net.
Cue the pandemonium among the Foot Soldiers.
The patience had paid off, and Cavalry (8-9-3) finished things off to earn a 1-0 victory that saw them pull to within two points of league-leading Forge FC as the Calgary crew looks to defend its regular-season title.
“We made sure we played to the final whistle,” Wheeldon said. “It was something we said at halftime, because we’ve been confident and prepared all week and we know the position Pacific is in, in a tough run of form and we’ve been there, so what are you going to do when you come to a team that’s in form? You’re going to make sure that you don’t give up much, you get … behind the ball and they did that, credit to them.
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“When I saw the lads were a little bit frustrated … keep patience and move the ball, they’ll tire before we do and just keep playing. There’s going to be one moment, that’s it.”
Even if they struggled to find the back of the net for so, so long, Saturday’s result was fully deserved for Cavalry.
They completely dominated every area of the pitch against a Pacific team who seemed to have flown into Calgary fully intent on earning a point from a draw and nothing more.
The Cavs had 66% of the possession.
They had 22 shots, while Pacific (5-5-9) only had four. Eight of those shots were on target, while only three of Pacific’s required Marco Carducci’s interventions.
The Cavs had five corners to Pacific’s three, as well, and for much of the second half they moved the ball deep in their opponent’s end, searching for the opening they needed.
When they found ways through Pacific’s deep-lying back-line, Gazdov stood on his head to keep the ball out of his net. The keeper probably deserves Man of the Match honours, turning away not only Klomp’s close-range try but countless efforts from the excellent-as-always Ali Musse, among others.
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But it never felt like Pacific were going to come back down the other way and score one of their own. Particularly in the second half, Carducci had little to do but wait and encourage his teammates to get forward and score.
And when it finally happened? Well, it was utter elation across the pitch and in the stands.
“That word is a big one we talk about, being patient and being OK with having the ball and continuing to chances,” Carducci said. “I enjoyed being a spectator in the second half and watching the team be so good.
“That’s a principle we’ve been talking about, dominating games and dominating them in-and-out of possession.”
While the performance couldn’t have been faulted even if Cavalry hadn’t scored, there’s no question the three points they earned with the win were big ones.
With Forge drawing 0-0 with York on Friday night, Cavalry leapt ahead of York and are now level on points with Atletico Ottawa in second place, with 33 apiece after 20 games. Forge’s lead at the top grew ever more slim, too, as they are now just two ahead of the chasing pack.
Considering that Cavalry were in sixth place a little over a month ago, that’s remarkable and sets up a thrilling final stretch of the CPL season.
NEW RECORD
It’s worth noting that Cavalry set a regular-season attendance record at ATCO Field on Saturday, with 5,043 fans in the stands.
The team has seen its attendance rise considerably this season compared to last, and Saturday afternoon set a new standard.
Cavalry next hosts Valour FC on Friday (7:30 p.m.).
daustin@postmedia.com
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