It’s very real, but it’s also symbolic—a testament to where they are, where they’ve been and where they’re heading.
During Saturday afternoon’s Fan Appreciation Match, when Forge FC players and staff thrust their arms –and the hardware– into the air to present the 2024 CPL Shield to the Tim Hortons Field faithful the ceremony will come with a caution: to the Hammers, this celebration is not an end. If anything, it is more of a beginning: a doorway to the future. A future that was just extended by at least four games and, hopefully, more.
With the Forge striding into Winnipeg to hand playoff-chasing Valour FC a 1-0 loss behind Noah Jensen’s fifth goal in the last six games, it clinched first place in the Canadian Premier League regular season with two matches yet to play.
That not only gave Forge the home field in the 1st vs. 2nd playoff against whoever finishes as runner-up, but it sent the Hammers back into the Concacaf Champions Cup.
So there will be winter soccer again at Tim Hortons Field. A home-and-away against a Mexican or MLS side in February. That is huge: focussing the attention of the massive North and Central American and Caribbean soccer universe on a Hamilton side which has become synonymous with international matches.
It’ll be the third time in the Champions Cup (formerly named Champions League) for Forge, which also played in 2022 (where they lost to Cruz Azul) and last year (Guadalajara), but the earliest they’ve known that they’ve qualified for the most important club tournament in this part of the world.
“Does it make a difference? Yeah,” head coach and sport director Bobby Smyrniotis said of clinching first place, and the Cup berth, with Saturday’s game against third-place Atlético Ottawa and next weekend’s finale in Pacific still on the docket.
“You can start planning ahead a little bit. You still have to wait for the draw to see who you play and in which window, and that doesn’t come until mid-December. But it’s important we know we’re playing in the Cup. That’s a massive thing for who we are. It motivates the players, coaches, and everyone around the organization.
“The most important advantage we have right now is we have two weeks to work on some stuff, get guys fully healthy, get guys who are fatigued into optimal fitness, and get guys who are coming back from injury into a good spot.”
Forge will also use the final two regular season games as a chance to give some of its younger players some exposure to high-intensity matches: Atlético needs the win in its battle to outbid second-place Cavalry and fourth-place York United for the runner-up spot and the easier playoff path that goes with it, and Pacific is locked into a tight battle for the fifth and final playoff entry.
Hamilton will continue to work with Nana Ampomah upfront and ramp up striker Viktor Klonaridis to more playing time, and will also walk the rest-rust tightrope in the two games, cutting playing time for some banged-up players while still keeping them sharp for the 1-vs. 2 playoff game on Oct. 27 at Tim Hortons Field. The winner of that match advances directly to the league championship final, which it will host on Saturday, Nov. 9. The loser will have to play the survivor of the other three playoff teams to get into the final.
“One of the good aspects is that we still have something to play for,” says Jensen. “We know that if we win on Saturday we can break a record for most home wins in a season so that’s big for us. These games mean just as much for us as they do for Ottawa and Pacific, who are fighting for their position in the table. So we’re not going to take it easy, knowing we’ve locked up first place.
“It’s crucial for some guys to get a bit of rest this week and next week but our competitive edge is still there and we’ll be fighting hard in these two matches and it will prepare us heading into the post-season.”
Jensen is an example of how Forge develops some of its core players from within. The 25-year-old midfielder from Courtice (near Bowmanville), played for Sigma FC –owned and run by the Smyrniotis brothers–in Mississauga from the age of 15, right through the 2019 season, when he also trained with Forge in their inaugural CPL campaign. He was a second-team all-American at Oakland University in Michigan, leading the nation in assists three years ago before spending a year in USL 2, then being broken gradually into the Forge lineup, as he was being groomed to one day take over from Kyle Bekker.
This season he was hampered early by injury and of his 23 appearances, 11 were as a substitute –often for Bekker–but he’s found more and more playing time, and an injury to Tristan Borges opened up offensive opportunities for him, as well as having some chances to play with Bekker rather than substitute in for him. It was Bekker’s brilliant feed that set him up for a Shield-clinching goal in Winnipeg. It was a carbon copy of one they’d combined earlier.
Nine days after the Forge sold leading scorer Kwasi Poku to a Belgian side—and facing a string of games against the CPL’s other five top teams which would determine their season–Jensen wore the captain’s armband while starting and scored both goals in a 2-0 win over then-contending Pacific. He’s also had goals in the last three games, including the winners over Valour and, the week before, against dangerous York.
“As athletes you go through times when you’re playing at your best and right now I think I’m in a good moment, confidence-wise,” he says. “Obviously there’s been an opportunity to play, with Borges out of the lineup. I’ve stepped in and done a good job and that’s all I can do, really. Hopefully, I can score some more goals which would be a real cherry on top.
“Bobby mentioned this in one of the press conferences: we have a lot of good players in midfield and whatever combinations we go with we know are going to work. The last two weeks you’ve seen Bekks and I combine for two good goals. I think he knows I’m going to find a way to get open in the box and he’s the kind of player who’s always going to find the space to get into, not only with his runs but with passes.
“We know with the style of game we play there’s going to be chances: not only for the strikers but the wingers and attacking midfielders. We have enough quality that as much as we miss Kwasi and some of the other guys and their goals (Woobens Pacius’s 10. for instance) from last season, we know we have guys who will step up. Right now it’s me but I’m sure going into this playoff some other guys are going to step forward with big goals. We just know we have the high-level players.”
Jensen has six goals this year, equalling what he’d totalled for Forge in his first two years, and his shooting success rate of 64 percent is the highest among all CPL players with five or more goals.
The Forge create a lot of scoring chances and lead the league in goals –and remember, this is a team which has used six different strikers this season—which makes them very entertaining to watch. And that’s one of the strongest benefits of winning the shield; Hamilton soccer fans get to see at least two more home games after the regular season concludes, and another one in February in the Champions Cup.
So it’s appropriate that they’ll raise the shield on Fan Appreciation Day. The afternoon (4 p.m. start) will feature a chance to win four tickets for the Canada-Panama men’s friendly at BMO Field on Tuesday with Poku called up for that match. Several other prizes, including gift cards, are up for grabs and there will be lawn games, inflatables and drink specials in the South Plaza.
The fans will celebrate, and the players will too, but nobody is taking their foot off the accelerator. Smyrniotis and his staff, and the core leadership group, won’t let them. Especially in training, which is noted for its physical intensity.
“The key thing is that it’s not the kind of rest where guys are doing nothing,” Smyrniotis says. “We’re all here competing in training, we have two games we want to win. This stretch is not something you take lightly because then you put yourself in a problem. There’s no on-off switch. For me, the on switch starts at the start of the season and you turn it off at the very end of the season. That’s the only way you can look at it.
“But for the players, it’s just having some time mentally when a certain pressure and stress is off. I always say that to play at this club is not easy for a player. They cannot come in here and settle for being mediocre. They can’t come in and settle for not winning a trophy.
“Anything less is a little bit of a failure. That’s something we put on ourselves and the guys have that every day so I think (clinching in Winnipeg) was a good one, giving us some time to breathe.”
HAMMERS AND NAILS: Tristan Borges and Kyle Bekker are tied for second in the CPL in assist with six, one off the league lead … Jassem Koleilat is on a tear and has seven clean sheets, one back of league leader Marco Carducci of Cavalry FC … defender Alex Achinioti-Jönsson’s 1605 passes are three off the CPL lead … Ottawa’s Rubén del Campo leads the CPL with 11 goals, two more than any other player … Dani Morer has six assists, Amer Didić is fourth in passes and Matteo de Brienne fifth in interceptions … CBC TV will televise the CPL championship game on Saturday Nov. 9, starting at 3 p.m.