Forge FC have booked a spot in a sixth straight Canadian Premier League Final after a 1-0 victory over Atlético Ottawa in Saturday’s semi-final.

Malik Owolabi-Belewu scored the winner for the Hamilton club early in the second half, and goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat was outstanding, making multiple big stops to keep the clean sheet.

In the final, Forge will meet a familiar foe, as they travel to Calgary to take on Cavalry FC in the second consecutive final, and third overall as the two sides also met in the inaugural final in 2019. Forge won on both of those occasions, and have won four of the league’s five CPL Finals.

This year’s finale will take place on Nov. 9, available to watch on CBC and OneSoccer.

Atlético Ottawa started with good intensity and had a decent chance in the 10th minute as Ballou Tabla broke in behind. Dom Samuel, however, who was starting in place of the injured Garven Metusala for Forge, closed down the Atleti attacker brilliantly.

Atleti came close again in the 23rd minute, as Jesús del Amo got on the end of an Ollie Bassett corner kick and header goalward from the back post, but the chance was cut out by a combination of Samuel and Owolabi-Belewu. Atleti had another great chance on the second phase of a free kick, but Forge goalkeeper Koleilat did brilliantly to punch the ball away.

The Atleti fluid midfield three of Manny Aparicio, Ollie Bassett and Aboubacar Sissoko were brilliant in allowing the visitors strong spells of possession and to break the Forge lines with some lovely passing and movement.

In the 40th minute, Forge responded with their first big chance when some lovely control on a ball in the air from Kyle Bekker created space in the box. His blocked effort fell into the path of Noah Jensen, whose first effort was brilliantly blocked by Matteo de Brienne before he sent the rebound wide.

The visitors opened the second half with a warning shot, as Amer Didić sent a rocket from well out less than a minute in that went just wide of Koleilat’s net.

Forge started to have some joy early in the second half. Bekker came close to connecting on a ball played to the back post in the 51st minute. On the ensuing corner kick, their fourth already in the second half, the Forge captain picked out Owolabi-Belewu who headed the ball past Nate Ingham in the Atleti net.

The goal seemed to wake up Ottawa, who quickly came forward looking for an equalizer. First de Brienne sent a volley from the top of the box narrowly wide. Then Sissoko forced a save frmo Koleilat. In the 57th minute, the Forge goalkeeper then made an outstanding point-blank stop to deny Aparicio.

The chances continued to pile up, as a pair of clearances off the line for Alessandro Hojabrpour spared Forge in the 68th minute. The Forge midfielder had a similar clearance against Cavalry the week prior, demonstrating his outstanding defensive instincts.

Badibanga nearly put the match to bed in the 88th minute with a low curling effort that forced Ingham to make a save at full stretch. There were some late close calls for the visitors, including Ingham coming forward and forcing a stop for Koleilat in stoppage time.

The victory was Forge’s 14th at Tim Hortons Field in 2024, making it the most successful home season in all competitions in club history. For Atleti, this was the first time they have lost a road match in the CPL playoffs.

Forge advancing to the final also means that Cavalry FC have qualified for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup as the regular season’s second-place finisher.

BOX SCORE

Lineups 

Forge FC: Koleilat; Duncan, Samuel, Achinioti-Jönsson, Owolabi-Belewu; Hojabrpour, Bekker, Jensen (Kane 89′); Choinière (Benitez 89′), Ampomah (Koné 90′), Badibanga

Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Morer (Torres 74′), Walker (Santos 83′), Didić, Del Amo, de Brienne; Bassett, Sissoko, Aparicio; Tabla (Salter 74′) , del Campo 

Goals

53′ — Malik Owolabi-Belewu (Forge FC)

Discipline

69′ — Yellow: Nana Ampomah (Forge FC)
78′ — Yellow: Manny Aparicio (Atlético Ottawa)
81′ — Yellow: Malik Owolabi-Belewu (Forge FC)
82′ — Yellow: Béni Badibanga (Forge FC)
90+4′ — Yellow: Jassem Koleilat (Forge FC)