Late equalizer from Warschewski sees Cavalry and Vancouver split the spoils

A stoppage-time goal from Tobias Warschewski rescued a point for Cavalry FC on Friday evening, as they drew visiting Vancouver FC 1-1 at Spruce Meadows.

While it looked like Vancouver was about to claim their first-ever win over Cavalry, thanks to a first-half strike from new signing Nicolas Mezquida, last year’s CPL Golden Boot winner made a goal from nothing in the 95th minute with a well-taken shot from outside the 18-yard box.

“I think that (never say die attitude) just comes with wearing the crest of Cavalry – we’re never going to give up, no matter who we play,” said defender Tom Field after the match.

“When you have special players like Tobi in your team, he can create something out of nothing, so obviously we’re very grateful for him.”

For Cavalry, the point means they maintain an impressive record of having never lost their home-opener – a six-game unbeaten streak that dates back to 2019.

But the draw also continues a curious factoid: that the reigning Canadian Premier League champs have yet to win a CPL match in the month of April.

“We’re not stressing,” Field said. “We had the same start last year and ended up winning the playoffs, so just don’t panic.”

Mezquida, who spent four seasons with Vancouver Whitecaps from 2014-18, opened his account for the young-look Eagles with a goal in the 20th minute.

After a turnover from Cavalry centre back Callum Montgomery in midfield, Alexandro Diaz slipped the ball to Terran Campbell. He played it through to Mezquida, and the Uruguayan calmly slotted his first-time shot past Marco Carducci in Cavalry’s goal to silence the home fans.

The first half was frustrating for Cavalry, who only registered a single shot on goal and produced a 0.06 xG, compared to six shots from Vancouver, who came close to doubling their lead off chances from Campbell and Diaz.

“Listen, I think that was a really poor first half, – especially by our standards,” said a frustrated Cavalry FC head coach and general manager Tommy Wheeldon Jr., after the game. “That’s what I challenged at half time and (it was) a good response, but you can’t give a team 45 minutes of football.

“The only solace is we’re still undefeated in all our home openers.”

After making some half-time substitutions, Cavalry played much more on the front foot in the second half as they searched for an equalizer.

But it took until the fifth minute of stoppage time before Warschewski was able to capitalize, when he drove home a shot from outside of the box that sailed into the bottom left corner.

It was Cavalry’s first goal of the 2025 CPL season, and Warschewski’s 16th in 33 appearances.

“Tobi senses gaps and look, he’s a clean finisher,” Wheeldon Jr. said of the towering target man. “He had a shot before that he didn’t hit well, and then he’s got his second one. If you give him two chances, he’s going to score at least one of them.

“He’s got us a point today because the first-half performance wasn’t great, but we showed the spirit to come back.”

The result means Vancouver still haven’t beaten Cavalry, in what is now 10 attempts. Cavalry are the only club the Eagles still haven’t beaten.

Nevertheless, head coach Afshin Ghotbi commended his players in his post-game comments, noting that, perhaps for the first time in the club’s short existence, the Eagles outplayed the Cavs on Friday.

“Cavalry is as good as it gets in this league,” he said. “For us to come here and outplay them – and I do think we outplayed them and deserved to win today – that should give our players a lot of confidence.”

The Eagles have had a slow start to the season, with the draw against Cavalry following a 2-0 loss to York United and a 4-1 defeat to Atlético Ottawa. If you date back to last season, their winless run extends to 10 games.

But Ghotbi said a hard-fought draw against Cavalry is a performance Vancouver can build off when they return to the pitch on April 26 to face Pacific FC, in the first B.C. derby of 2025.

Cavalry, who are also still chasing their first CPL win of 2025 following a 1-0 loss to Forge in their opener, will be back at ATCO Field the same day to face Ottawa.