CCSG Player Ratings: Voyageur's Cup QF (Leg 2) @ York United (8/7/25)
Chaos. To ascribe any other word to this game would do it a disservice. Atlético Ottawa’s first win away to York United since the first organized road trip on July 22nd, 2022, has seen the club go through to the Semi-Finals of the Voyageur’s Cup for the first time in its history. That said, the result is the only positive to take from this game. Following Elijah Adekugbe’s dismissal in the 26th minute, Atlético Ottawa managed only one shot on target in the following 58 minutes of play. They cleaned it up with two venomous strikes at the end, but the ATO attack was completely unable to solve the York United defence, which remained compact and forced the ball to the wingbacks, who were themselves not able to solve Riley Ferrazzo or Orlando Botello all evening.
The more frustrating thing, however, was the goals that were conceded. All three were routine, route-one balls that cut through the central defenders like a hot knife through butter. The third felt especially egregious as the team was somehow caught out in a high line as Steffen Yeates slid a ball into the space between the defence and Nathan Ingham for Massimo Ferrin to convert fairly easily. It harkens back to the beginning of the season where everything seemed in disarray and makes the month of June seem more like a mirage despite all the optimism we generated, and I professed, about four straight clean sheets in the league.
I don’t think you can say that anyone on this team played particularly well besides Sam Salter, whose performance sees him now one goal behind Ollie Bassett for the all-time club record and two behind Ruben Del Campo for most goals in a single season, only halfway through the campaign - his 16 goal contributions in all competitions this season is equal to the amount he had in his first two full seasons in the red and white stripes. I don’t think I have harped enough about how transformational the pairing of Salter and Rodríguez has been in attack, at this point taking their involvement in goals for granted. The first three goals featured both of them heavily, with Salter assisting Rodríguez for the first, while two Rodríguez shots were directed back into Salter’s path for the second and third. Rodríguez would go on to assist the fourth, and it is abundantly clear at this point that these two will be finalists for player of the year, pending a disaster of a second half.
All that said, the horror show that much of this game was doesn’t matter anymore. We’re through to the semi-finals with a real chance to reach the final after having been drawn against Vancouver FC. York never allows us to truly feel comfortable, even if we have now beaten them more times this year than we have in the rest of our history (depending on how you classify winning a penalty shootout). Cup matches especially have a propensity to get wild, and this was no exception. I’m sure the faults and lessons to be learned from this game will be drilled into the team as they prepare for a top-of-the-table clash with the undefeated Forge FC on Saturday afternoon. Football fandom is never easy, even at the best of times. Saturday, we go again, hoping to maintain our hold on the Canadian Premier League, and set a record for most wins at TD Place in a single season.
About Patrick
Having joined CCSG in 2022, Patrick started his footy career playing at the age of 4 and began watching the pros around the same time. While the first pro team he supported was Manchester United, as soon as Atlético Ottawa came to town, he was immediately on board. His wealth of footy knowledge has been a constant asset, along with his role as caretaker for ATO's Wikipedia pages.
