The Forward Press 2026 MD 1 - FOR vs. ATO: New Faces, FVS, and Daylight Offside
The wait is over. A new Canadian Premier League season has officially kicked off with a marquee clash between the two 2025 champions: Atlético Ottawa (North Star Cup) and Forge FC (CPL Shield). ATO began their campaign on the road by travelling to Hamilton, but were defeated 2-0 as Forge capitalized on two set pieces to secure all three points in the league’s opening game of the year.
Head coach Diego Mejía opted for a largely familiar starting XI, maintaining as much continuity as possible from last season. With four players sidelined through injury (Loic Cloutier, Garrisone Innocent, Richie Ennin and Ralph Khoury) and Roni Mbomio still unavailable due to a visa issue, Ottawa fielded a lineup closely resembling last year’s core. Only three new faces broke into the starting eleven for the first time in the CPL: Daniel Aguilar, Erling Myklebust, and Tristan Crampton. Notably, Crampton made his professional debut in this match, and later joined Mejía in the post-match press conference.
Crampton didn’t offer much reflection on his debut between the sticks for Atlético Ottawa, but the young goalkeeper was candid in assessing his performance. While he acknowledged the value of learning from Nathan Ingham last season (who has since moved on to Cavalry FC), his focus remained on the positives of his play. He highlighted a handful of saves and his passing as strong points in his game. He also spoke to the penalty conceded, striking a similarly measured but positive tone: “We’ll learn from the situation,” he said. “It’s the first match, there [were] a lot of good things after this moment, and I don’t think that moment reflects the team’s game or my game.”
On the pitch, Atlético Ottawa controlled possession for long stretches but struggled to transition into the final third, failing to register a single shot attempt. Both Crampton and Mejía pointed out the lack of threat in the final third as an area for improvement moving forward, with Mejía likening this to players still learning his system, which they will better understand the more matches they play. Overall, the gaffer was candid about the team’s need for continued improvement, which will come with more games. Despite the result, he was not concerned, stating, “You cannot win the trophy right now and you cannot lose [it] as well,” and expressed strong confidence that his team will “win a lot of matches this year,” a familiar sentiment he asserted last season.
Meanwhile, Forge FC capitalized on two set pieces, scoring once from the penalty spot and again via a controversial corner sequence involving a handball. Despite registering 10 shots, only four were on target, reinforcing Crampton’s assessment of his backline. He praised his defence for limiting the damage, noting that Forge “didn’t have a lot of shots on goal . . . most of the shots they got were off target . . . we did well to limit the damage . . . [and] we nullified most of it.” Though he did mention the need to work on defending set pieces.
Finally, the match also introduced two significant rule changes: the daylight offside rule and the implementation of Football Video Support (FVS) challenges. Both added an extra layer of intrigue and complexity to the game and became a focal point in the press conference.
Neither Crampton nor Mejía felt the new offside rule affected the team’s performance or playing style. Crampton offered his perspective, stating that he “...didn’t see a huge difference” on the pitch, but added that they might see more on the video. Mejía echoed the sentiment, explaining that the offside rule doesn’t affect ATO as he plays his centre backs high on the pitch. He did go on to add an afterthought that “...maybe in the set pieces you need to defend a little bit different.”
With Forge scoring both goals from set pieces, it was evident that the new offside rule may require some strategic defensive adjustments from the red-and-white stripes. The team struggled when challenged close to their net, though those difficulties may also be partly explained by the controversial FVS reviews that occurred in the lead-up to both goals.
Crampton was first to address the introduction of FVS, offering little on the subject and making it clear that such decisions fall outside a player’s immediate focus. He emphasized that anything relating to video review is left to the coaching staff. Instead, players are concentrating on their roles within the match: “...you’re focused on playing your system, playing well, and performing”. However, the ATO gaffer was much less reserved when providing his perspective on the new system.
It’s well known in the CPL that there has been disappointment regarding inconsistent refereeing in past seasons, so Mejía was quick to clarify that FVS allows coaches the opportunity to challenge the game, not the referees’ decisions. He went on to explain that both his challenges came down to rule interpretation. In one case, a dangerous high kick occurred next to a player’s face, which should still result in an indirect free kick even without contact; in the second, a goal following any handball―intentional or not―should be disallowed.
Unfortunately for ATO, neither of these rules were applied, which resulted in both goals against them. Mejía finished his point adding, “The problem is not about the challenge, the problem is the rules. We need to know the rules.” This was a pointed statement underscoring the need for consistent officiating in the league, and we can only hope that with the introduction of the FVS, more consistent calls will follow, or at the very least, that officials will be held more accountable for how rules are interpreted and applied.
Overall, Mejía showed support for both changes and offered a positive perspective, adding, “I am not the guy who choose[s] the rules, I am the guy that needs to adapt the rules . . . I see this like [an] opportunity to grow as a coach, [and] it’s going to give me more tools for the future.”
Overall, Diego Mejía and Tristan Crampton remained optimistic despite the result, expressing confidence that the squad has the quality to succeed this season as they adapt to the new group dynamic. Crampton offered his perspective on what needed work ahead of the next game stating in French: “Offensively, we definitely want to create more chances, and that’s something we’re going to work on in training. We’ll try to generate more shots on goal. Defensively, we’ll also work on our set pieces – that’s something we learned today and will keep pushing to improve.”
On the other hand, Mejía spoke of his trust in his players and how he is working on developing a model of play based on his players’ skills. Much like last season, he has confidence in his team and believes they will do well this season―well enough for him to boldly state the team will “score one more goal than the rivals [for] the rest of the season”. With such a confident prediction, only time will tell if the gaffer is able to keep his word. Luckily, we won’t have long to wait as Atlético Ottawa look to respond and improve on this first result during their next match away at ATCO Stadium on April 12th against Cavalry FC.
About the author:
C.D. Girard (she/her/elle) discovered Atlético Ottawa during their 2023 season and has been a loyal fan ever since. A long-time admirer of the sport, she first began playing football at the age of seven and most looks forward to international competitions, supporting both Canada and the Netherlands.
