Bontis in goal as Forge visit Vancouver FC
Dimitry Bertaud is away with DR Congo, handing the backup keeper his first appearance of the season with the Shield race still live.
· by Colin Radek · match preview · cpl shield · goalkeepers · canadian championship
Forge head west on Saturday without their first-choice goalkeeper, with Dimitry Bertaud away on international duty with DR Congo. Dino Bontis takes his place against Vancouver FC and will make his first appearance of the season. Assistant coach Peter Reynders said this week that Bontis is well prepared and that the club has full confidence in him.
The stakes are straightforward. Forge began Matchweek 23 in second place, four points behind Cavalry FC, and still need the Calgary side to drop points if they are to take the CPL Shield. All Forge can control is winning what is left, and the recent form suggests the midsummer lull has passed: a 3-0 win over Atl"tico Ottawa two weeks ago, then a strong showing in Calgary that ended 1-1 after a late Cavalry goal.
The squad has also been reinforced for the run-in, with Manjrekar James and Lucas Cavallini both arriving in training. James is named in the starting eleven at Vancouver alongside Bontis, Rama, Nimick, Jevremovi", Bourgeois, Borges, Batisse, Sadek, Wright and Massunda.
"Their quality is pretty self-explanatory," Tristan Borges said of the new arrivals. "Players like that have played where they've played for a reason." Borges added that the experience such players bring to a dressing room matters most in big games and at big moments of a season.
Vancouver come in on three days' rest after a 3-3 draw with Inter Toronto on Wednesday night, a game they left frustrated: Callum Irving saved a penalty and Luis Toomey looked to have won it in the 92nd minute before Toronto equalized later still. The Eagles sit fourth, six points clear of Halifax and two behind third-place Atl"tico Ottawa, but have just one win in their last eight (1-3-4). Their leading scorer, Mohamed Amissi, is away with Burundi.
Head coach Martin Nash said his side must be at their best, calling Forge "fantastic defensively this year" and pointing to transition moments as Vancouver's likeliest route through. He also framed the closing weeks bluntly, saying everything now feels like a playoff game with Forge fighting to be first and his own team fighting to get in.
Beyond the league, Forge remain in the hunt on multiple fronts, with the Canadian Championship final against CF Montr"al set for Wednesday, October 21 at Stade Saputo. As Reynders put it: "Will we win each trophy? We'll try, that's for sure."