A day after losing its top striker, Cavalry FC had troubles finding its mark.
With Aribim Pepple and his six goals now overseas, Calgary’s professional footie side couldn’t find the finish it needed Wednesday night in Winnipeg, losing 2-0 in a clean-sheet performance by Rayane-Yuba Yesli and host Valour.
Meanwhile, Valour — now 5-5-6 — went in looking to desperately up its point total — now 23 — in hopes of catching fourth-place Ottawa Atlético . The top-four teams after 28 games apiece make the CPL playoffs.“It’s not like us,” said Cavs gaffer Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “It seems like we’re letting teams beat us. We’re giving them gifts and we’re having to find the hard ways to score.”First, it was an early strike — just seven minutes in — for the league’s second-highest goal-getter.
“One guy who scored two goals, and we didn’t score any — and that’s the only stat that matters, right?” said Wheeldon Jr. “It doesn’t matter how many passes or how many probes or how many set-plays or how many opportunities, if you don’t put the ball in the back of the net, you’re forever chasing.
Yesli turned away three Cavalry shots for his first clean sheet of the league campaign to draw Valour six points back of Atleti.