After an interesting week in the CPL, 13th Man Sports has named a Team of the Week. It features five members of Valour FC, two members of Forge FC, one member from HFX Wanderers, one member form Pacific FC, one member from York United, and one member from Cavalry FC. The Team of the Week also includes three forwards, four midfielders, three defenders, and one goalkeeper.
Goalkeeper
Julian Roloff (Cavalry FC)
Starting with possibly the most controversial player in this week’s team of the week, Calvary FC’s third-string goalkeeper, Julian Roloff. Though letting in two goals against York United, he was the most active keeper in the league, making five saves on the seven he faced and came out as one of the only promising players on a poor Calvary side.
Defenders
Diyaeddine Abzi (York United FC)
At left-back I don’t think many would be surprised to see Diyaeddine Abzi slot into this week’s team. A notable name in the league and a crucial member of York United’s team, Abzi registered his first assist of the year on a goal by Osaze De Rosario in the 73rd minute to extend the lead to 2-0.
Rocco Romeo (Valour FC)
Rocco Romeo is just one of five Valour players to make this week’s team after their dominant performance over Atletico Ottawa on Sunday. Romeo was a critical part of the Valour defence that kept Ottawa away from goal. Romeo also scored a goal off a corner with a ball put into the box by Sean Rea in the 45th minute to make it 3-1.
Dominic Samuel (Forge FC)
Dominic Samuel comes into this week’s team after a solid defensive performance against FC Edmonton this weekend. Completing 86 passes out of 96, he held a steady performance and made it hard for Edmonton to enter the box.
Midfielders
Alessandro Riggi (Valour FC)
Alessandro Riggi was an impactful player in the 6-1 defeat over Ottawa on Sunday afternoon. The 28-year-old Canadian became a problem for the Atletico backline, finishing the game with three shots and two of them finding the back of the net.
Brett Levis (Valour FC)
The former Vancouver Whitecaps player made a solid season debut versus Ottawa on Sunday, and helped lift the team to their first win of the season with a 69th-minute strike outside the box after dribbling past two Atletico players and putting it into the conversation for the goal of the year. Levis also received the Gatorade man of the match.
Manny Aparicio (Pacific FC)
For the second game in a row, Manny Aparicio scored the game’s first goal within the first 25 minutes of the match. Though defensively Aparicio had his troubles with losing the majority of his duels, there’s no question about the impact he has on this team when it comes to scoring.
William Akio (Valour FC)
Even though recording no assists and no goals, Valour fans can thank William Akio for being involved in three of the six goals for Valour. Akio continued to help drive the Valour offence on Sunday, and was a stand-out player all afternoon.
Forwards
Cory Bent (Halifax Wanderers FC)
Cory Bent may be the answer to the Wanderers’ goal-scoring question mark. Though losing to Pacific on Saturday night 2-1 thanks to a penalty from Dias in the 85th minute, Bent continued to push the left side for Halifax and create opportunities all night. Bent was the loan goal scorer with a beautiful free-kick goal outside the box in the 45th plus one-minute mark to tie the game at one. The former first overall pick in the 2019 CPL-U Sports draft will be a player to look for banging in or assisting goals this season in replacement of Morelli.
Moses Dyer (Valour FC)
Moses Dyer is one of two players this year to score three goals in three games this season and two of the goals came against Ottawa in the 6-1 victory. Dyer got his second penalty goal of the season to open the scoring in the 14th minute. Dyer completed his brace after scoring in open play inside the box to bring the score to 5-1.
Terran Campbell (Forge FC)
It only took three games in the Canadian Premier League season for Campbell to pick up from where he left off with Pacific last year. In the first two games of the season Campbell was left off the score sheet, but that changed in the 34th minute after he banged in his own rebound after missing the penalty. Campbell finished the first half by feeding Borges his first goal of the year and brought Forge to the halftime whistle with the score being 2-0. Campbell finished the game with another goal in the 69th minute, leaving the game with two goals and one assist.