CCSG By The Numbers: 2025 Roster Breakdown (Part 2)
Welcome back to part two of the five-part series in which the 2025 ATO roster is broken down analytically! Following the first part, wherein some comically low sample sizes were analyzed (available to read here), this next edition dives into the mushy “meh” part of the roster, with a few smaller sample sizes and a few surprises. As always, if you are new to this series, or would like a refresher on the methodology, the introduction to statistics is linked here. And as a final reminder, each player will be statistically analyzed briefly, with a few comments on their eye test and a reminder of their contract situation. If they are up in the air for 2026, a recommendation will be given. Allons-y!
#20: Sergei Kozlovskiy - CB (53.7 WPA)
I think this is a fair assessment of Kozlovskiy’s season. As a high-schooler playing his first professional season, he was bound to experience bumps in the road, and he did—notably his duelling and discipline, which is to be expected for someone his age. What carried him was his passing, especially his short passing, which is a given for any ATO player working under Mejía, but also his long passing, a strength the coaching staff used early in the season to exploit the opponent over-committing on one side. These low scores are to be expected given his age and inexperience, so I was not too shocked to see them.
2026 Contract Status: Unknown, possibly under Contract through 2026 at least.
It was recently reported that Kozlovskiy has received interest from MLS and Europe, so if he leaves Ottawa it will be for better things—it is also possible this would generate transfer revenue. However, if his suitors choose not to snap him up, both he and the club would benefit from one or two more years of development in the CPL.
#19: Noah Verhoeven - CM (54.5 WPA)
Verhoeven was, for all intents and purposes, a non-factor in this year’s team. A semi-regular starter in 2023, and on loan to Valour in 2024, even with a coaching change, his star continued to fall. He was stuck behind every other midfield option on the depth chart, a quandary not aided by the fact Mejía only ran with two options in his 3-4-3. In his very limited minutes he showed decent passing, always a strength of his, and alright tackling, but not much else of substance.
2026 Contract Status: Out of Contract
Unfortunately, while still young, I don’t think Verhoeven has shown enough to re-sign him for a fourth year.
#18: Joaquim Coulanges - WM (55.5 WPA)
One unfortunate consequence of Mejía’s 3-5-2 is that the wide players don’t really fit into any mold I have ready for them—they contribute too much on defence to be considered true wingers, but also bomb forwards too often to be considered fullbacks. I made an executive decision and placed all our wide players as wingers this year, which had a generally negative impact on their WPA. As a result, I’d concentrate on the underlying metrics more for these players, Coulanges included, who, mind you, also had a relatively small sample size, one I might even consider too small for proper analysis. Nevertheless, his up-and-down numbers come out a little in the wash when aggregated, but he showed flashes of dynamism on the wing this season. Signed initially to be a defensive wing-back, he proved very able going forward, and he has bags of potential at only 19 years old.
2026 Contract Status: Signed through 2026, with options for 2027 and 2028.
#17: Amer Didić - CB (56.0 WPA)
Didić’s season was ruined after only four matches due to a season-ending leg injury, so he didn’t have the time to put up the monster numbers we are accustomed to seeing, on top of obviously not being able to marshall the defence made up mostly of babies. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory.
2026 Contract Status: Out of Contract
It’s a no-brainer to say that Ottawa should sign him back for next year; however, with his recent injury and winning a title, one could be forgiven for wondering whether he might hang up the boots after this season. We will have to wait and see.
#17: Kevin Ortega - CDM (56.3 WPA)
Another extremely small sample size, given the locked-in XI we saw week-in-week-out under Mejía in 2025. Ortega was technically a CDM, but also saw action as a more attack-minded midfielder, so his metrics are a little all over the place.
2026 Contract Status: Loan presumably at an end.
I think at the start of the season most fans probably thought we’d see more of Ortega this year, but with the generational midfield duo ahead of him, it was hard to break into the starting lineup. There are no guarantees, but it’s likely we’ve also seen the last of him, which is a little unfortunate, as he showed to be a reliable option off the bench, if only to close out games.
That wraps up part two of this breakdown! Probably a little less analysis than usual, there wasn’t much to say on these guys, to be honest—they played their part. This also ends the collection of players who ranked below average this season, and given there are 15 players left to rank, I think that’s pretty good! Until next time!
About Alexander:
When he isn't busy playing or watching sports (or going to school at uOttawa), Alexander is busy managing his Atlético Ottawa database, which he started in 2020, and tracks everything you can think of about the club and its players. He also runs a Twitter account dedicated to analyzing and rating CPL players using statistics, CPL by the Numbers.
