Atlético Ottawa’s woes against Forge FC continued on Sunday afternoon, as The Hammers went to TD Place and came away with a 3-0 victory.

The visitors took advantage of the first chance of the match, taking an early lead in the nation’s capital.

After getting himself under a high ball toward the box, Woobens Pacius headed it forward to David Choinière. The Forge attacker picked up the ball at the edge of the box, driving in and cutting to his left, before cutting back outside again, turning the defending Matthew Arnone inside out. After making himself space to shoot, Choinière fired the ball across goal and past a diving Dylon Powley to give The Hammers the lead.

Ryan Telfer tried to respond quickly for Ottawa, but his shot was deflected, going just wide of Triston Henry’s goal in the 13th minute.

Atlético head coach Mista was forced to make an early substitution, as Shawn-Claud Lawson went down with an injury. He was able to walk off the pitch, before Brian Wright came on to replace him just 23 minutes into the match.

Forge’s high pressure defending was causing trouble for Ottawa, who didn’t really have an answer for it. Every time Ottawa touched the ball, a swarm of Forge players crowded around, forcing mistakes. Forge made seven interceptions in the opening half, and limited the home side to just three shots, taking a 1-0 lead into the break.

Early in the second half, Forge doubled their advantage, scoring on a set piece in the 52nd minute. Tristan Borges curled a dangerous corner into the box, which none of the Ottawa players were able to clear. It fell to Daniel Krutzen, and deflected off the Belgian defender and into the goal.

Around the 70th minute mark, Ottawa started to string a few chances together, but were still struggling to score any of them. Ryan Telfer, Malcolm Shaw and Alberto Soto all had shots within a minute of each other, with Soto’s effort — a header toward goal that was caught by Triston Henry — the closest of the bunch.

Any momentum Ottawa had was taken away in the 80th minute, as Woobens Pacius confirmed the three points with a third goal for Forge. His fourth goal against Atlético Ottawa, Pacius ran onto a pass through the middle from Omar Browne, before firing the ball into the bottom right corner with his first touch.

Forge held on for the final 10 minutes, earning the victory and moving them within one point of second-place Cavalry FC, with a game in hand.

BOX SCORE

Goals

7′ — David Choinière (Forge FC)

52′ — Daniel Krutzen (Forge FC)

80′ — Woobens Pacius (Forge FC)

Discipline

82′ — Yellow: Mo Babouli (Forge FC)