After lopsided loss to TFC, CF Montreal looks to turn the page in cup game at Forge

Toronto FC's Ola Brynhildsen (9) scores against CF Montreal goalkeeper Sebastian Breza during first half MLS soccer action in Montreal, Saturday, May 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Still smarting from a weekend 6-1 drubbing at the hands of rival Toronto FC, CF Montreal looks to turn the page Tuesday when it visits perennial Canadian Premier League powerhouse Forge FC in the opening leg of their Telus Canadian Championship quarterfinal.

“We’ve just got pick ourselves back up,” said Canadian midfielder Victor Loturi. “We believe in the group still. Everybody in the locker-room, we still believe.”

Montreal was reduced to 10 men in the 21st minute Saturday at Stade Saputo when defender Joel Waterman was sent off for a foul that denied Toronto forward Ola Brynhildsen a scoring chance.

Toronto’s six-goal outburst, which set a franchise record for goals in an MLS game, avenged a penalty shootout loss to Montreal in preliminary-round cup play April 30. The loss left Montreal in the Eastern Conference basement at 1-9-4.

“We (learn) from our mistakes every time. Also from the mistakes we did Saturday … For sure, last year and from the performance against Forge, we learned something,” said Montreal interim coach Marco Donadel, referencing a 3-2 loss to Forge on aggregate in the two-legged 2024 cup quarterfinal. “But every year and every group, it’s a different match.”

The return leg is July 9 at Stade Saputo.

Montreal and Forge are meeting in the Canadian Championship for the fifth straight year.

Montreal won the first three of those meetings — via penalty shootout in the 2021 semifinals (8-7 after the game ended in a scoreless draw), 3-0 in the 2022 quarterfinal and 2-0 in ’23 semifinal.

After dispatching Montreal last year, Forge fell to Toronto FC on the away goals rule after the two-legged semifinal finished knotted at 2-2.

Also Tuesday, the defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps return to cup action after a preliminary-round bye when they visit Valour FC. On Wednesday, it’s Vancouver FC at CPL champion Cavalry FC. Atletico Ottawa hosts York United on June 11.

Semifinal matchups will be redrawn following the conclusion of the two-legged quarterfinals.

Montreal dispatched Toronto after Giacomo Vrioni’s 88th-minute goal prompted the shootout with the preliminary-round game at BMO Field tied at 2-2 after regulation time. Forge downed Halifax Wanderers 3-1 in its opener.

Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis is not looking at the MLS standings in preparing his team for Montreal.

“It doesn’t matter if they won 6-1 or lost the way they did on the weekend … They’re a good team with good players and they know that,” he said.

Coming off a 2-2 draw May 13 against league-leading Atletico Ottawa, Forge is one of only two unbeaten teams in the CPL. But wins have been hard to come by and the Hamilton side sits fourth in the eight-team league at 2-0-4.

Forge has played four straight league draws, rallying to tie two of them.

“They have good players, experienced and young (players),” said Donadel. “They attack well. They won many championships in (recent) years. The great advantage also mentally, they are used to playing games to win every time. We want to do it but we haven’t won many in the last year and a half.”

“This is a very difficult game,” added the Italian native, citing the artificial turf at Hamilton Stadium. “We need to go there very humble and understand the difficulties, prepare for the difficulties and react if we face some. With this mentality, we can go forward in any situation.”

Donadel said he did not expect any of injured defender George Campbell and midfielders Bryce Duke, Fabian Herbers, Dominic Iankov and Hennadii Synchuk to be ready for Tuesday. But Campbell and Herbers may be back for Saturday’s league visit by Los Angeles FC.

Forge will be without injured attackers Tristan Borges and Mathieu Choiniere with influential midfielder Alessandro Hojabrpour a game-day decision. On the plus side, defenders Marko Jevremovic Malik Owolabi-Belewu will both be back in the lineup.

Montreal’s cause was not helped by opening the season with seven straight road games (0-5-2). Coach Laurent Courtois was fired five games in (0-4-1) and the club remained winless until May 10 when it edged New York City FC 1-0 at Yankee Stadium.

The Canadian Championship winner hoists the Voyagers Cup, earns $50,000 and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Montreal has won the competition five times, most recently in 2021, and finished runner-up three times. Forge made the cup final in the pandemic-delayed 2020 edition, losing to Toronto in a tournament reduced to a championship game.

---

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press