2020 Canadian Premier League final

2020 Canadian Premier League final

Event	2020 Canadian Premier League season
Forge FC HFX Wanderers FC 2 0
Date	September 19, 2020
Venue	Alumni Field, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Man of the Match	Molham Babouli (Forge FC)
Referee	Juan Márquez
Attendance	50
Weather	Mostly cloudy 13 °C (55 °F) 44% humidity [1]
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The 2020 Canadian Premier League final determined the winner of the 2020 Canadian Premier League season. It was played on September 19, 2020, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, between Forge FC, the defending league champion, and HFX Wanderers FC. Those teams qualified as the winner and runner-up of the group stage of The Island Games tournament. ^[2]

The event was to be contested between the top-seeded team after the regular season and the winner of a one-game playoff, ^[3] but the season format was revised after being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Forge FC won the match 2–0 to repeat as league champions, earning the club a berth in the 2021 CONCACAF League and the 2020 Canadian Championship final. ^[4] Forge ultimately reached the semifinals of the CONCACAF League to qualify for the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League and faced Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship final where the club lost in a penalty shoot-out following a 1–1 draw. ^{[5] [6]}

Background

Further information: 2020 Forge FC season and 2020 HFX Wanderers FC season

Forge FC entered the final as the defending league champions, having defeated Cavalry FC in the 2019 finals after finishing 2nd in the regular season. HFX Wanderers FC played in their first final, improving from a last-place finish in their inaugural season in 2019.

This was the seventh meeting all-time between the two clubs with each team having recorded one win and four draws against each other. Forge and HFX Wanderers faced off twice during the 2020 season with both matches ending in a 1–1 draw. ^[7]

Path to the final

Main article: 2020 Canadian Premier League season

First stage

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cavalry	7	4	1	2	10	7	+3	13	Advance to group stage
2	HFX Wanderers	7	3	3	1	12	7	+5	12 [a]
3	Forge	7	3	3	1	13	9	+4	12 [a]
4	Pacific	7	3	2	2	10	8	+2	11
5	York9	7	2	4	1	8	7	+1	10
6	Valour	7	2	2	3	8	9	−1	8 [b]
7	Atlético Ottawa	7	2	2	3	7	12	−5	8 [b]
8	FC Edmonton	7	0	1	6	5	14	−9	1

Source: CanPL.ca
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) goal differential; 4) goals for; 5) total wins; 6) U-21 minutes; 7) coin toss or drawing of lots. ^[8]
Notes:

1. Head-to-head points: HFX Wanderers 1, Forge 1. Goal differential: HFX Wanderers +5, Forge +4
2. Head-to-head points: Valour 3, Atlético Ottawa 0.

Group stage

Pos Team v t e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 Forge 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 7 Advance to final 2 HFX Wanderers 3 1 1 1 3 7 −4 4 3 Cavalry 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3 [a] 4 Pacific 3 1 0 2 6 5 +1 3 [a] Source: CanPL.ca Notes: Head-to-head points: Cavalry 3, Pacific 0.
Forge FC		Matches	HFX Wanderers FC
Opponent	Result		Opponent	Result
HFX Wanderers FC	1–1	Match 1	Forge FC	1–1
Pacific FC	2–0	Match 2	Cavalry FC	2–1
Cavalry FC	1–0	Match 3	Pacific FC	0–5

Match details

Details

September 19

3:00 pm ADT

Forge FC	2–0	HFX Wanderers
Achinioti-Jönsson 60' Tissot 90'	Recap Report

Alumni Field, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Referee: Juan Márquez

Forge

HFX Wanderers

Forge FC: GK 1 Triston Henry RB 4 Dominic Samuel CB 14 David Edgar  65' CB 5 Daniel Krutzen LB 6 Kwame Awuah CM 24 Paolo Sabak  80' CM 13 Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson CM 10 Kyle Bekker (c) RW 7 David Choinière  90' LW 2 Jonathan Grant  58'  67' CF 19 Molham Babouli  80' Substitutes: GK 31 Baj Maan FW 9 Marcel Zajac FW 11 Chris Nanco MF 15 Maxim Tissot  80' FW 17 Kadell Thomas  67' FW 20 Gabriel Balbinotti DF 21 Jordan Dunstan  90' DF 22 Monti Mohsen FW 23 Anthony Novak  80' Manager: Bobby Smyrniotis

HFX Wanderers: GK 50 Christian Oxner RB 6 Chrisnovic N'sa CB 2 Peter Schaale CB 3 Jems Geffrard LB 14 Mateo Restrepo CM 17 Aboubacar Sissoko CM 18 Andre Rampersad (c) RW 7 Alex Marshall AM 22 João Morelli  81' LW 10 Alessandro Riggi  71' CF 11 Akeem Garcia Substitutes: GK 1 Jason Beaulieu MF 5 Louis Béland-Goyette MF 8 Omar Kreim  81' FW 9 Ibrahima Sanoh DF 13 Daniel Kinumbe MF 15 Scott Firth DF 20 Jake Ruby FW 23 Cory Bent  71' DF 24 Alex De Carolis Manager: Stephen Hart

Man of the Match: [9] Molham Babouli (Forge FC)

Assistant referees: Gabrielle Lemieux Stefan Tanaka-Freundt Fourth official: Myriam Marcotte

References

1. "Weather History for CYYG". Weather Underground . The Weather Company. September 19, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
2. Molinaro, John (July 29, 2020). "CPL's 2020 regular season to kick off on Aug. 13 with 'The Island Games' in P.E.I." Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on 2020-07-31. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
3. Rhodes, Benedict (February 21, 2020). "Canadian Premier League releases 2020 schedule and format". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on 2020-02-26. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
4. Molinaro, John (19 September 2020). "Forge FC beats HFX Wanderers FC in Island Games final to repeat as CPL champions". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
5. "Recap: Forge FC advance to SF, qualify for Concacaf Champions League with resounding Leg 2 win vs. Santos". forgefc.canpl.ca. Forge FC. November 2, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
6. O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (June 4, 2022). "HIGHLIGHTS: Toronto FC top Forge FC in thrilling penalty shootout for 2020 Canadian Championship". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League . Retrieved August 3, 2022.
7. Molinaro, John (18 September 2020). "Forge FC vs. HFX Wanderers FC: North Star Shield on the line in Island Games finale". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
8. Thompson, Marty [@martythompson_] (August 12, 2020). "Confirmed: #CanPL tiebreakers for The Island Games... 1. Head-to-head 2. Goal diff. 3. Goals for 4. Total # of wins 5. *Most U-21 minutes* in round 6. Coin toss or drawing of lots" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
9. @CPLsoccer (September 20, 2020). "As voted for by the fans, @ForgeFCHamilton's Mo Babouli is the last @GatoradeCanada Man of the Match" (Tweet). Retrieved September 21, 2020– via Twitter.