Here’s a couple of things – besides his thunderous scoring prowess–you always have to keep in mind about Tristan Borges; he missed one Forge season when he was playing in Belgium; and had another (last year) muted by his ankle injury and scored only twice.
Yet here he is, the newly-crowned all-time goal-scoring leader for the most dominant team in Canadian Premier League’s short history. When he scored both goals—one on a penalty—in Forge FC’s important 2-1 victory over Cavalry last Saturday, it gave him 34 across all competitions in a Hamilton kit, two more than Woobens Pacius, who has moved on to Huntsville City, the reserve side for MLS’s Nashville SC.
“It’s great, obviously, when you score goals and you’re able to accomplish something that’s special” Borges said as Forge prepared to visit Halifax to play HFX Wanderers on Saturday. “Especially with the things we’ve been able to accomplish already as a club so early on. We’ve had quality players, great players who’ve been able to move on and so far have done good things after they left.”
“We know (Pacius) is a quality player: he can finish with both feet and can score with the header, as well, and I think he gave Forge fans many goals and a lot of happiness. He’s one of my good friends and I wish him nothing but happiness and success.”
Borges already has eight goals, two off the league lead and his five assists are also two off the CPl pace. He didn’t realize that not only does he lead all Forge career-goal scorers but that he is also the CPL’s all-time leader in career Goal Contributions (goals plus assists) with 58. Teammate Terran Campbell is second at 52.
“You look at (Borges) this year, he’s been excellent. He’s exactly what we want” says Forge head coach and sporting director Bobby Smyrtniotis. “When I talk about a player like him, if you can get seven, eight goals and six or seven assists in a season you’ve got a good chance to be at the top.”
“He’s an attacking midfielder who brings the attacking prowess we need. If we can keep on getting that same output, I think it allows us to be where we want to be.”
Borges is predominantly a left-footed ball striker and the heaviness of his shot, and it’s general accuracy, have been well documented.
“It’s hard to explain, you learn the technique from when you’re a bit younger age,” he said, explaining how he packs so much power into his compact 5-foot-7 frame.
“Honestly, it’s focusing on technique rather than worrying about the power. As long as I can hit it on the sweet spot, when it’s the right time, that’s kind of the key. Plant foot, chest over the ball, been doing it since I was a young kid.”
He says almost all of his goals have come with his left foot, “but I have scored with the right. I don’t have many that I can remember though. I think it’s kind of out there with header goals. Scoring the one this year (vs. Valour on a perfect feed from Bekker), I think that was my first professional header ever. I had some when I was younger and everybody’s height was kind of the same.”
After winning the CPL’s Golden Boot with a dozen goals in the league’s inaugural season and being voted the player of the year, Borges earned a big transfer fee for Forge when he went to Belgium’s OH Leuven in 2020 and that remained the league record until Hamilton’s Kwasi Poku, was recently transferred to Belgium’s RWD Molenbeek for a reported $850,000.
Eight goals went to Europe with him but Borges argues that he doesn’t feel any pressure on the rest of the attackers—including him—to replace the departed striker’s impressive output.
“Not really,” he says. “Kwasi is a great talent and a great guy and he was in great form as well but we have quality all around the team so it’s just the next man to step up. Béni (Badibanga) played well at the 9 spot, and I know it’s not his normal role. Whoever steps into that role will be ready.”
Smyrniotis agrees with that sentiment and notes that even though Borges and Choinière have worked magically together this year, Forge is built to allow different combinations of scorers who can fill the void, starting with veteran strikers Jordan Hamilton and Campbell, the CPL’s career goal-scoring leader.
“We lost an important player in Kwasi who was scoring goals, but since then I think there’ s only one game when we haven’t scored multiple goals,” Smyrniotis says.
“Guys are used to playing with all the different guys in training. The way training is modeled, it’s not focused on pairs of players; that chemistry exists because of the longevity of them playing together, especially those two guys (Borges and Choinière).
“You can see we don’t miss a lot when we move them around: last game Borges was on left wing, David was on the right wing. They were far from each other but that doesn’t deter from what Borges does on the field or what David does on the field and I think that’s the thing. It’s a collective of what we do as a group and what I say to the guys is that their talent and individuality is what makes it happen.”
While Forge strives to maintain its four-point lead atop the CPL—the regular-season winners earn a direct entry into Concacaf Champions Cup—the last-place Wanderers are fighting with three other teams for the fifth and final playoff berth.
“Look across the league and everyone has a chance at something and that’s what makes each and every week very interesting,” Smyrniotis says. “You can’t look at the standings. If you do, you make a mistake and start making assumptions on things. Halifax is playing for their playoff lives and we’re playing to keep ourselves on top so it’s just as important a game for both teams.”
The Wanderers didn’t lose to the Hammers last season, tying both games at Tim Hortons Field 1-1 and winning both their home matches 2-1. This year they tied Forge in Halifax but were beaten 3-0 and 2-0 at Tim Hortons Field.
“These are the tricky ones,” Smyrniotis says. “they’re a good team. We don’t look at the results or standings but more at what they can do on the pitch. They’re a team that can keep the ball and keep good rhythm and in general they’re a good team at home.”