Semi-pro TSS Rovers look to make more Canadian Championship history

Pacific FC players and fans celebrate their victory over the TSS Rovers in Canadian Championship quarterfinal soccer action in Langford, B.C., on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. (Chad Hipolito / The Canadian Press)

There’s a lot on the line Wednesday for TSS Rovers when the semi-pro League1 B.C. team takes on Valour FC of the Canadian Premier League in Telus Canadian Championship preliminary-round play

With the defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps awaiting the winner, moving on could mean a $200,000-plus boost for TSS Rovers in gate revenue — and other sources such as increased sponsorship — from the home half of the two-legged quarterfinal, according to a club spokesman.

But first things first.

TSS Rovers and Valour, who meet at Winnipeg’s Princess Auto Stadium, have history. TSS Rovers knocked Valour out of the 2023 cup competition with a 3-1 victory at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, becoming the first non-professional team in the history of the competition to defeat a fully professional opponent.

“We’re just very privileged to be in it again,” said Rovers coach Brendan Teeling.

“Again, we’re underdogs. The pressure’s more on Valour than us,” he added. “They’re a professional outfit, we’re amateur semi-pro professionals. We’re just here to try and have a cup upset and continue that legacy that we’ve set in terms of having those runs.”

In other preliminary-round play Wednesday, Forge FC hosts Halifax Wanderers in an all-CPL matchup.

In Tuesday cup action, FC Laval played at York United and Vancouver FC visited Pacific FC.

Previous preliminary-round play saw CF Montreal dispatch Toronto FC in a penalty shootout, CPL champion Cavalry FC blank League1 Alberta’s Edmonton Scottish 6-0 and CPL-leading Atletico Ottawa down League1 Ontario’s Scrosoppi FC 2-0.

After ousting Valour in ’23, TSS Rovers lost 2-0 to Pacific in the quarterfinal. Last year TSS Rovers lost to Pacific in a preliminary-round penalty shootout, with the CPL side needing a 98th-minute goal by Reon Moore to avoid defeat in regulation time.

The 2024 trip to the cup competition came on short notice with TSS Rovers replacing the Victoria Highlanders, who withdrew from the B.C. league for financial reasons.

TSS Rovers (2-1-1) are currently third in the nine-team B.C. league.

Teeling says his team is younger this year and has been a little inconsistent. But he still has some veterans with cup experience.

“They’re comfortable being uncomfortable, if that makes sense,” he said. “But it’s still a big-scale game, in that sense. It’s some of these players’ biggest game in their lives. So we’re just hoping that they stand up and be kind of like what they’ve done in previous years.”

Valour has had a rough start to the season, sitting last in the eight-team CPL at 0-3-1.

“I would expect a big response against us, and I think they’re going to treat us pretty seriously,” said Teeling.

“We’ve definitely got to respect them. They’re still a professional outfit,” he added. “They’ve got good players, they’re well-coached. It’s a matter of we’ve just got to make sure we’re ready for whatever they throw at us.”

Valour forward Kris Twardek expects a challenge from Rovers.

“You obviously have to expect desire, commitment, passion,” he said. “Just like us, they want to advance to the next round. They want to play Vancouver Whitecaps, who at the moment is the best team in CONCACAF. It’s a cup final for them. It’s a cup final for us. On the day we have to show more desire and more passion than they do.”

Valour coach and GM Phillip Dos Santos says the switch to cup play may “good be good for us.”

“But again ask me the question in 24 hours,” he said.

“But it’s not just talking about results,” he added. “It’s about performance, too. We want to see indicators that lead us to believe that we’re the team we want to be.”

Valour, which lost 3-1 to visiting Vancouver FC, plays at league-leading Atletico Ottawa on Saturday.

Halifax Wanderers at Forge FC

Four days after playing a scoreless draw in Halifax, the two teams meet again in cup play this time at Hamilton Stadium.

Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis liked what he saw on the weekend at Wanderers Ground.

“I thought we were excellent, especially in the first two-thirds of the field on the ball. It was quite good,” he said. “It’s now about just being a little bit more lethal in the final third and take advantage of all the space that we found in different places.”

Halifax (3-0-2) currently sits second in the CPL standings, two points above third-place Forge (2-0-3).

Halifax coach Patrice Gheisar says there are few secrets between CPL teams, given the fact they play each other four times per season in league play.

“I’m sure they left a couple of bullets in their chamber,” he said of Forge. “We left a couple of things. They’re going to rotate some guys, we’re going to rotate guys.”

Forge made the cup final in the pandemic-delayed 2020 edition, losing to Toronto FC in a tournament reduced to a championship game.

The Hamilton side made the semifinals in 2021, 2023 and 2024, losing to CF Montreal the first two years (via penalty shootout in 2021) and Toronto FC in ’24 (on the way goals rule after winning the first leg 2-1).

Halifax has never made it past the quarterfinals and was upset in the first round last year by Ligue1 Quebec’s CS St-Laurent in a penalty shootout.

---

This report by Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2025