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Dmitri Bertaud saved three penalty kicks — including two in the shootout — to help Forge FC make history at Montreal’s Stade Saputo on Tuesday.
After Forge and CF Montreal were tied after regular time and overtime, the Hamilton side won the shootout 4-2 to become the first Canadian Premier League team to win the Canadian Championship.
Manjrekar James scored the decisive goal to silence the crowd at Stade Saputo and send his Forge teammates into celebration mode.
“It’s always an opportunity for us,” Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis said. “We’ve won trophies and this is one we’re close to and it’s very important for our club.
“The final has nothing to do with three points.”
Antoine Batisse scored late in the first half for Forge. Daniel Rios equalized shortly after halftime for Montreal.
Tristan Borges, Ben Paton and Daniel Nimick scored the other goals for Forge in the shootout. Montreal’s goals were scored by Matty Longstaff and Daniel Perreira.
Montreal is hosting the Forge for the 3rd year
Daniël Krutzen was the only Forge player who couldn’t turn around. Prince Owusu, who missed a penalty early in the game, and Gennadiy Synchuk missed for the Major League Soccer side.
For the third year in a row, Forge knocked Montreal out of the Canadian Championship.
Montreal controlled the game and created several strong scoring opportunities. Despite the disparity on offense, the Forge defense saw off the opening stages of the game.
Montreal’s pressure finally paid off in the 21st minute when James brought down Owusu in the box. Bertaud, who had a chance to open the scoring, made a decisive save standing upright.
After the penalty kick, Montreal continued to control the game but offered little in the way of a credible attacking threat. That opened the door for Forge to take a surprise lead in the sixth minute of added time.
Noah Jensen sent a powerful corner towards the far post which was met by Batisse, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead against the run of play.
“I told everyone before the game that I want us to be remembered as the first CPL team to lift this trophy,” Jensen said. “We have pictures in our stadium of all the great moments our club has had, and I told everyone that I want to see a picture of our starting 11 there and remember it as the day we won the Canadian Championship.”
Montreal opened the second half with renewed energy and found the equalizer after just four minutes. The home side looked set to increase the momentum, but Brian Vera was sent off after a second yellow for simulation.
For the next 15 minutes, the game was played with slight caution on both sides as each team looked to figure out the other as if searching for the one point that was never on the table.
The Forge did it first as they finally enjoyed a long spell of possession and forced Montreal back into defensive shape.
The first 20 minutes of overtime produced little offensively as Montreal had its best scoring opportunity of the night.
Controversy on the Montreal side
Luca Petrasso picked up the ball and laid it off to Noah Streit from more than 60 yards out, who missed the target from the spot kick.
The Montreal side were in contention before the shoot-out as Chile star Alexis Sanchez and goalkeeper Samsy Keita had to come on before extra time, but changes could not be made in time.
“We played the best 11,” Montreal interim coach Phillipe Eullaffroy said. “When it comes to Alexis, I tried to find a creative way to not only bring him into the game, but to do it in a way that would make a difference.
“If we never went down to 10-on-11 it might work, but you still need a target man further up the field and I thought that would be the best setup for the team.”
The win qualified Forge FC for the 2027 CONCACAF Champions Cup.