By Canadian Press

Atletico Ottawa rallies to defeat HFX Wanderers 3-1 in Canadian Championship play

Apr 19, 2023 | 5:22 PM

TORONTO — Atletico Ottawa scored goals four minutes apart late in the first half and added a late insurance goal to defeat HFX Wanderers FC 3-1 in Canadian Championship preliminary-round play Wednesday.

It marked Ottawa’s first-ever cup win, having lost in the first round to Valour FC and York United FC in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Malcolm Shaw, Diego Espejo and captain Maxim Tissot scored for Ottawa, last year’s Canadian Premier League regular-season champion. Massimo Ferrin replied for Halifax, which finished six places and 20 points below Ottawa in 2022.

The game was the first half of a cup doubleheader at York Lions Stadium with York facing CPL expansion side Vancouver FC in the nightcap. TSS Rovers FC of League1 B.C. hosted Winnipeg’s Valour in Burnaby in the late game Wednesday.

On Thursday, Pacific FC entertains Cavalry FC in Langford, B.C., to complete the opening round.  

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CF Montreal and Forge FC won their preliminary-round matches at home Tuesday with Montreal blanking Vaughan SC 2-0 and Forge dispatching FC Laval 3-0. 

Ottawa will host Forge while Montreal visits Toronto FC in the May 9 quarterfinals. The York-Vancouver FC winner hosts the defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Whitecaps and Toronto, the 2022 tournament runner-up, both earned first-round byes.

Ottawa and Halifax played to a 1-1 draw Saturday at TD Place in their CPL season opener. Ollie Bassett scored for Ottawa on the stroke of halftime after Zachary Fernandez had given Halifax an early lead.

Halifax coach Patrice Gheisar. who coached Vaughan Azzurri against Halifax in the 2019 Canadian Championship, has revamped his roster since taking over the team in November. He gave debuts to 10 players — seven starters and three substitutes — on the weekend while Ottawa showcased eight newcomers — six starters and two off the bench.

Bassett, named last season’s CPL Player of the Year and the Players’ Player of the Year, lasted just 15 minutes Wednesday before exiting holding his hamstring. And it got worse for Ottawa four minutes later.

Ferrin curled a free kick from just outside the penalty box over the Ottawa wall and past goalkeeper Nathan Ingham, who got a hand to it but could not stop it.

Shaw tied it up for Ottawa in the 40th minute, gracefully heading home a cross from Gianni Dos Santos, who was found in space down the left flank by a fine pass from the back from defender Karl Ouimette.

Four minutes later, after Halifax failed to deal with a corner, Noah Verhoeven’s cross grazed Karl Ouimette’s head and hit the post, bouncing straight to Espejo to knock home for a 2-1 lead.

Tissot added to the lead in the 85th, racing 60 yards to catch up with Jean-Aniel Assi on a counter-attack with just one defender back. After getting the pass, Tissot tucked the ball in before sliding out of play.

The Canadian Championship winner lifts the Voyageurs Cup and earns a berth in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, the flagship club competition in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2023

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press