2023 Canadian Championship — Preliminary Round
Halifax Wanderers vs. Atlético Ottawa
April 19, 2023 at 5 p.m. ET
York Lions Stadium in Toronto, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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Wednesday night’s Canadian Championship doubleheader at York Lions Stadium kicks off in the late afternoon when Halifax Wanderers and Atlético Ottawa square off for the second time in less than a week.

The two sides renew hostilities in North York after playing to a spirited 1-1 draw at TD Place in Ottawa on Saturday, giving both teams a point in their 2023 Canadian Premier League season opener. Now, on a short turnaround, the foes will meet again — but this time, there can be no draw. This being a cup tie, a penalty shootout would be required to separate them if 90 minutes again cannot.

Halifax as a club have a fairly strong history in the Canadian Championship, having won four knockout ties in their history. They’ve hosted both CF Montréal and Toronto FC at the Wanderers Grounds, and they came achingly close to knocking off TFC in last year’s quarter-final.

According to coach Patrice Gheisar, the Wanderers have a clean bill of health for the midweek fixture; the most notable player absent from the squad on Saturday was Lifumpa Mwandwe, so a return for him would be a major boost.

Atleti, meanwhile, have yet to go on a true cup run. They’ve only participated in the tournament twice in their history, but both times they lost their first-round tie — last year going down to York United on penalties. They went on to win the CPL regular season title later in 2022, but a lengthier stay in the cup would’ve been nice as well.

Ottawa coach Carlos González admitted on Tuesday that his side might’ve suffered from some nerves playing in their home opener at TD Place, but now that the first one is out of the way he told reporters he’s confident in his team’s ability to rebound. In terms of his squad availability, Carl Haworth and Zachary Roy remain the only two players ruled out.

With neither side able to host this first-round matchup, they’ll be playing at a neutral site in York Lions Stadium, three hours before York United and Vancouver FC kick off the second match of the day.

The winner between Halifax and Ottawa will move on to play either Forge FC or PLSQ side FC Laval, with a likely date with either Toronto FC or CF Montréal beckoning in the semifinal.

All CPL and Canadian Championship matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Telus’ Optik TV (Channel 980) as well as online at OneSoccer.ca, through the OneSoccer app and on the fuboTV Canada platform.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Familiarity breeds resentment: It’s not often you get to play the same opponent twice in a few days — well, unless you’re a CPL team this week, with a six clubs playing the same opponent back-to-back. With Wednesday’s contest being a knockout cup tie, things can always get a little heated, but perhaps especially so when the two sides played an intense 90 minutes just a few days previously. It may also be a rare chance for both managers, Patrice Gheisar and Carlos González, to get a second chance at some of the things they might not have gotten quite right on Saturday. With 10 of the 14 Halifax players to step on the field, and eight of the 15 for Ottawa, being brand-new to their team, neither coach had much prior information about how their opponent might set up. That’s no longer the case this time around.

• Can Halifax seize midfield again? The centre of the park was an area of immense strength for Atlético Ottawa in their successful 2022 season, but on Saturday it was Halifax who commanded the middle. Much of that newfound midfield superiority was down to French maestro Lorenzo Callegari, who was magnificent for the Wanderers with 127 touches and 99 passes completed, spraying the ball to anywhere on the pitch. With Andre Rampersad and Aidan Daniels both able to get higher up the pitch thanks to Callegari, the Wanderers looked much more dangerous from the middle. Ottawa, meanwhile, will want to re-assert control of that area; Ollie Bassett was solid in midfield on Saturday, but he and Noah Verhoeven were outnumbered at times.

• Vaughanderers in town, or a capital invasion? It’s expected that both sides have a contingent of support at York Lions Stadium on Wednesday. The Wanderers — although their supporters’ flight from Nova Scotia was sadly cancelled — should have some support from the local Vaughan SC community, who will be eager to cheer on their former coach Gheisar as well as former players Massimo Ferrin, Riley Ferrazzo, and Kosi Nwafornso (after supporting their own club against CF Montréal on Tuesday, of course). Ottawa, meanwhile, may have some supporters in tow as the club seeks its first cup victory. Atleti fans came out in droves for a road trip to York last year; this is a midweek afternoon game, which makes it much trickier for travelling support, but expect at least a few red-and-white striped shirts in the stands.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Halifax wins: 4 || Atlético Ottawa wins: 5 || Draws: 3

Last meeting:

April 15, 2023 — Halifax Wanderers 1-1 Atlético Ottawa

KEY QUOTES

“The most important thing for us is to be a little bit more cutthroat and be better ourselves. We’ve learned that Ottawa’s going to counter-attack, they sat in a defensive block. We’re prepared if they go in a higher block. They’re a great team, super organized, great coaches, great players, but I think we look at ourselves and say we let [Saturday’s game] get away.” — Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar

“Every Championship game is a different type of game. It’s a game you play for all or nothing in 90 minutes, so it’s a game that you have to control a lot of the details. … They have to also take more responsibility in certain moments. Let’s see how the pressure of them having to win also will affect them; it’s going to be a different scenario completely.” — Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos González