Forge FC set sights on three-peat

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This article was published 25/06/2021 (1566 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As teams gear up for the start of the 2021 Canadian Premier League season, one club is chasing the glory of a difficult accomplishment. The chance to become league champions for a three-peat title defence looms in the balance for Forge FC.

“It’s hard to win a championship, it’s very difficult to repeat and doing it three times in a row is definitely not easy but the mentality is there,” Bobby Smyrniotis, head coach of the Hamilton based football club, said this week.

Forge FC heads into the 2021 season with a considerable core of their team still intact from their two championship seasons. Of the 23 players on the current roster, 12 are entering their third year with the club and four are entering their second year, leaving only seven players new to the dressing room. Smyrniotis noted how important team cohesion is to build success in this league.

“The players that have done it two years in a row, our new players coming in realize from day one, what the culture and identity is of this club and I think that puts us in a good position going into 2021,” said Smyrniotis.

That attitude is shared equally throughout the club’s roster.

“We have a good mentality, good morale for the team and any new guy that comes in here they know what’s expected of them,” said Triston Henry, lead goalkeeper of Forge FC.

“We hold ourselves to a high standard here and it’s really easy for guys to fit in once they step into the dressing room.”

“We’re going into our third cycle with the majority of the same guys,” said Kyle Edward Bekker, team captain and midfielder with Forge FC.

“That brings a lot of positives but it can also bring a few challenges where people can easily become complacent. It’s continuing to keep growing, learning and challenging each other, when all of us have individual goals that we’re trying to meet.”

Noting the strengths and weaknesses of his team over the last two seasons, Smyrniotis says this year will bring forward a new challenge, to maintain his team’s offensive potency after scoring the most goals of any team.

“We’ve won the most CPL games of any team in the league,” said Smyrniotis.

“Although we’re a team that attacks very well, scores a lot of goals, we think we can be better in that phase of the field. That’s the most difficult phase of the field to get better at. In the final third, if all teams we’re firing on all cylinders all the time, we’d see a sport with scores of 7-5.”

To bolster their front-line attack, Forge has brought in three notable newcomers; Omar Browne and Joshua Navarro are sent on loan from Club Atlético Independiente of Panama and A.D. Municipal Pérez Zeledón of Costa Rica. Both attackers join from the top divisions in their countries and are backed by a veteran defender in Dejan Jaković, who made 22 appearances with the Los Angeles Football Club in the MLS last season.

Going into the 2021 season, Bekker and his coach noted how last season’s bubble format in Prince Edward Island created a mental grind for everyone on the field, bolstering that toughness is needed for success this year.

“Last year there was a whole different dynamic where it was very much tournament football,” said Bekker.

“It added a whole other level of urgency and pressure, everything was a little more heightened. It was very much so win and keep going.”

“One hundred per cent, you went into every game and you knew that giving up points was not an option,” said Smyrniotis.

“You needed to play those seven games to make sure you play another three, you needed to play those next three to make sure you play the championship game and that’s the way we took it.”

The defending champions begin their season against hometown Valour FC Sunday. Smyrniotis says this season leaves room for a lot of intrigue based on player turnover and the zero preseason matchups.

“If we go into year three, you have Forge, Pacific and Halifax who have a lot of stable parts from last year, but then you have five other clubs that I think are distinctly different from what they were doing in the past,” said Smyrniotis.

The players noted how the full 28-game season has fuelled the rest of the competition.

“Anytime you have success there is going to be a target on your back,” said Bekker.

“Just knowing that we’re going to get everyone’s best game, we always have to be on and ready,” said Henry.

The championship team of the CPL is granted a spot in the annual CONCACAF tournament. Forge has played eight matches in each of those tournaments over two years. A place Smyrniotis hopes he can return to again after this season.

“It’s big winning a championship, but the honour that comes with it is competing in this continental competition,” said Smyrniotis.

jbernacki@freepress.mb.ca@JosephBernacki