End of the road: Wanderers officially eliminated from CPL playoff race
The Halifax Wanderers' playoff dreams had ended before they took to the pitch at Willoughby Stadium on Friday as FC Supra's 3-0 win over Inter Toronto FC officially eliminated them from contention.
But that didn't stop head coach Vanni Sartini's side from putting their best foot forward against Vancouver FC, losing 2-1 off yet another fantastic Matteo Campagna header.
The reality is — despite a decent run of form over their last give matches— the Wanderers limped into Friday understrength after cheating death versus Forge FC and Cavalry FC. Star midfielder Lorenzo Callegari was unavailable due to suspension on Friday. Veteran Ryan Telfer, who suffered a knock on international duty, had given his all versus Cavalry. Forward Nelson Pierre was absent due to personal reasons. And Finn Linder — Sartini's second most-used defender (1,972 minutes) after Jefferson Alphonse (2,111) — was also ruled out due to injury.
Instead, 17-year-old Ilan Hassan stepped in at right-back. 19-year-old Liam Mackenzie made his second consecutive start. And 21-year-old midfielder Lucas Olguin made his mark by scoring his first Canadian Premier League goal to give his side hope.
Friday's squad, in many ways, encapsulated the positives — and some of the realities — of this iteration of the Wanderers. There's promise in this crop of young players, who got their boots dirty after an uncertain opening 15 minutes of play, but a rawness that still needs to be refined.
Both Olguin and Sartini addressed the media post-match, noting that they were happy with the progress made across the breadth of the season. There's no doubt they improved; their 4-1 win versus Inter Toronto at the Wanderers Grounds being the closest they got to living Sartini' brand of football.
But the reality is the Wanderers still have a long way to go before they're anywhere close to hoisting the trophies they so desperately covet. They fell well short of expectations this season. And their squad building means several important players, many of whom were the backbone of this squad, are out of contract or on options.
Still, Sartini is hopeful for next season.
"I think, and I know it sounds crazy because today we got eliminated from the playoffs, the future is bright for this club. It's bright for this team because we set a very good foundation with not too many changes to try and be a contender next year," he told reporters in Langley.
"The team started with a lot of struggles in the beginning of the year. New team, new coach, the most important players in the team left in Tiago Coimbra, like Sean Rea, and we decided to rebuild and we wanted a sustainable rebuild with a lot of young players.
"You just spoke with Lucas Olguin, it's his first year as a pro. The same for Miguel Arilla, the same for Francesco Troisi, today we had Ilan Hassan, a 2009 playing as a left-back, Tavio Ciccarelli, a lot of young players. We paid a little bit of a price at the beginning (of the season). The impact of professional football for the first 10 games was hard and, at the same time, we tried to work with them to give an identity to the team."
There's potentially more turnover than Sartini acknowledged: can the club retain key free agents like Callegari and Thomas Meilleur-Giguère? What's the club's plan for players on option like Isaiah Johnston, Kareem Sow, and Miguel Arilla? Will any of the loanees be returning?
But first, before all those questions are answered, the Wanderers will finish out their season next week at home versus FC Supra in front of their fans. There's still football to be played.
And, despite a disappointing end to the season, this group has shown plenty of fight. As Sartini noted on Friday, they'll respect the game as it's an opportunity to continue to develop a group of players they think can help them next year. They still very much have something to play for.
Editor's Note: This article is part of our free coverage.
Cover Photo Credit: Elizabeth Ruiz Ruiz / CPL
