David Choinière says his Forge FC, who’ve set a franchise record for most points at home this season, don’t play the game just for themselves.
“It’s very important to play well in front of our fans,” says Choinière who was CPL’s Player of the Week for his goal and assist in The Hammers’ 3-1 road victory over Vancouver FC last weekend.
“You want people to come here, get entertained and see good football. If you do that you’re also most likely to win. It’s a commitment for ourselves, and also for the fans who have been behind us for six years.”
“It’s about putting good football on the field and enjoying ourselves at the same time.”
And on Saturday (4 p.m.) against York United it could also be about setting a new CPL standard for most home points in a season, and solidifying the hold on first place.
With four games to play—two at home, two on the road—Hamilton holds a five-point lead on second place Atlético Ottawa and are eight up on fourth place York United. It’s important to finish first during the regular season because it comes with home field advantage in the playoffs, and more importantly, a bye into next year’s Concacaf Champions Cup.
A couple of weeks ago head coach Bobby Smyrniotis emphasized it was imperative for the club to continue its home success because their final three games at Tim Hortons Field were against the other three contenders for the top spots. They took care of surging third-place Cavalry FC 2-1, two weeks ago here, face York Saturday and host Atlético Oct. 12.
With 10 wins, three draws and just one loss for 31 points, the Hammers have already surpassed the previous club mark for home points which was the 26 they earned in 2022. If they win either of their last two home games, they’ll also surpass the CPL home-points record of 33 established just last season by Cavalry.
It’s an emphatic reversal of last year’s form when the Forge won just four times at home, with three losses and a frustrating seven draws. They were 7-2-5 on the road, but this year have won only three times on the road.
“Obviously it was a little disappointing last year in tying a lot of matches at home,” Smyrniotis said. “We’ve got another two to go now and they’re both very big ones.”
“I think this year the guys wanted to do much better at home. It’s just been a bigger commitment to seeing out games, in putting out 90 minutes of full effort and not just thinking it’s an automatic. Our home record has been fantastic since Year One and maybe last year we took that a little bit, thinking it was automatic and being complacent at some points in the match.”
Choinière recognizes the magnitude of the remaining games, even the ones on the road at Valour and Pacific, who are vying for the final playoff spot.
“York and Ottawa are two massive games,” he says. “If we win both at home I think we will win first place. So we know how much they matter. But just take it one game at a time. First place is important for us. We win this we’ll have some room to manage the last three games of the season.”
After losing their opening five matches –including 3-0 to Hamilton at York—York United has gained strength and identity under new coach Benjamin Mora. From May 4 to Aug. 14 their only two losses were to Forge. They’ve got the league’s second-leading goal scorer in Ben Wright, who has found the back of the net nine times and is also second in the CPL in assists. Their attack still runs through former Forge star Mo Babouli. They will, however, be without three of their highly-ranked Mexican imports on Saturday: Jorge Guzmán, who incurred a red card in a 2-0 loss to Cavalry; and Orlando Botello and Oswaldo Léon who have five accumulated yellow cards.
“They’re a good team,” says Smyrniotis of the other side of the 905 Derby, which they’ve already won. “They’re a well-organized team so whichever way they want to play– if they want to attack more, or if they want to sit in more–they’re usually very well-structured tactically for their matches.
“We just need to make sure we bring the tempo we usually bring in the home matches and make sure we play high, keep things moving pretty quick and make sure we set the tempo not allowing them at points to bring the tempo down a notch.”
As for Choinière, who specializes in scoring goals in high-leverage games—the winner in the first Concacaf Game (vs. Antigua) ever won by a CPL team; the sole goal in the second leg of the first CPL final; the clinching insurance goal of the 2023 league championship; five goals in just 17 matches of continental play—he’s happy to be named Player of the Week but adds that “you play for the team and try to do your best and if you get rewarded with that, I see it as a bonus.”
HAMMERS AND NAILS: Forge defender Alexander Achiniotti-Jönsson is second in the CPL in passes with 1486, just 46 off the lead, while Ali Hojabrpour is fifth at 1201 … Tristan Borges is tied for third with 8 goals while David Choinière has 5. He’s also hit the woodwork three times … York goalkeeper Thomas Vincensini has five clean sheets.