It took 26 matches for Forge to be mathematically crowned the Canadian Premier League Shield winners. The club’s attention will now shift towards the playoffs, where they will once again be in contention for a fifth playoff success in six years.
Following Forge’s 2-0 defeat to Atletico Ottawa on Saturday, the Hammers lifted the shield as regular season winners. It is often said the table does not lie, so we should have no doubt that the Hammers are deserved winners. With that in mind, here are three reasons why Forge deserved the CPL shield this season.
Making Hamilton Home
When looking back at all of the teams who finished top of the CPL regular season in the past, there is one commonality; they always have a very good home record.
Last season, Forge won just four of their 14 matches at Tim Hortons Field. While they only lost three times, the seven draws played a large part in why they finished 13 points behind Cavalry. Going into the 2024 season, one point of emphasis for Forge was to improve upon their form at home. The Hamiltonians certainly took that seriously.
With a record of 11-1-2, only Cavalry in the league’s inaugural year had a better home record (11-2-1). The numbers were just staggering for Forge this year in Hamilton. Five of the seven CPL teams failed to collect a single point in their two trips to Tim Hortons Field. Only Vancouver FC grabbed points in both matches at Forge, while the previously mentioned Ottawa win on Saturday was the only other blemish. Before being held off the scoresheet, Forge had scored in every single home match this calendar year.
The Hammers also scored 29 times in home games this year, which is a CPL record. In fact, it is the only time that a club has found the back of the net an average of two or more goals. That is quite impressive. Moreover, Forge’s +17 goal difference at home this year is only bettered by Cavalry’s +18 back in 2019. Any team who can dominate at home – while having a decent away record – surely deserves to be champion.
Consistency is the Name of the Game
Another common feature of a table-topper is consistency throughout the year. Atletico Ottawa led the league for a large part of this campaign. However, a slip in form midway through – where they lost four times in six – ultimately did them in.
Only once this season did Forge lose consecutive games. Despite having a run early in the year where they lost thrice in four games, Bobby Smyrniotis’ side seldom faltered, continuously rising to the occasion. With 15 victories in 27 matches, Forge has won four more games than the next-best sides, Ottawa and York.
On top of that, the Hammers have been able to get points everywhere. While they sparkled at home, they still managed to grab results on the road, even if their record is not as good as last year. Forge has earned at least one point at every venue in the CPL this season except for TD Place in Ottawa. That should not be ignored.
Furthermore, while much can be said about the offence, the defence has also shown up. Forge has the most clean sheets in the league with 10. This is despite a change in goal. For the first time in the club’s history, Triston Henry was not the club’s number one goalkeeper. The two-time CPL Goalkeeper of the Year left the club during the season, but did not take the field at any point. Instead, the goalkeeping duties have been split between Christopher Kalongo and Jassem Koleilat. The Hammers were the only team in the league this year to not have a dedicated starter between the sticks.
Both goalkeepers have been key to Forge’s success at the back. Koleilat has seven clean sheets this term, a stat only bettered by Cavalry’s Marco Carducci with eight. Of all the keepers to have started at least 10 times in the league, no one has a better clean sheet percentage than Koleilat’s 50%. If the 25-year-old does not start in Forge’s final regular season game next Saturday at Pacific – or start and keep another clean sheet – he will become the first keeper in league history to keep a clean sheet in at least 50% of his games, minimum 10 matches.
With the regularity of earning results everywhere, along with the ability to be defensively solid, Forge’s consistency throughout the year is commendable, and well worth being the one to lift the shield.
Getting Goals From Everywhere
This might go hand-in-hand with the previous section, but another reason Forge truly deserved the regular season title this year is their ability to get goals from everyone. No team in the league had more different goalscorers than Forge’s 14.
Twelve different players have assisted on a goal this year. While Brian Wright of York United has the most goal contributions so far (goals and assists combined), there are three Forge players in the top 10 in that department. Those three players – Tristan Borges, David Choinière and Poku – all have 10 or more goal contributions.
Despite selling Kwasi Poku to RWDM in August, Forge has continued to find the back of the net. This is in large part due to the number of players that were part of the goalscoring. We have seen far too many clubs in world football crumble after losing their main source of goals. That has not been the case for the Hammers. They have still mustered 12 goals in nine games since Poku’s last appearance.
The other aspect of Forge’s goalscoring that is underrated is that they have gone through the majority of the season without starting a recognized striker. While we have seen a few clubs do this to varying degrees of success, this is not a straightforward task. There was a point early on when the team’s two strikers – Jordan Hamilton and Terran Campbell – were both out through injury. Still, Smyrniotis adjusted.
We must remember that while Poku did fill in as the number nine for much of the year, that is not his primary position. This has not only shown the flexibility in the squad but also the ability to contribute to the goals despite playing out of position.
Forge has shown in a plethora of ways that they are the deserved CPL regular season winners for 2024. An incredible home record, remarkable consistency, and goals from everyone have been fundamental to the Hamiltonians’ success. Some teams may have been more dominant en route to the regular season crown. However, make no mistake: this Forge side earned it. They will be a force to be reckoned with come the playoffs, where they have always kicked into a higher gear.