Three minutes is all it took this past weekend for the CPL's mission statement to ring true. (JohnMolinaro )
That’s all it took for the Canadian Premier League to begin living up to the promise of its mission statement: To prevent Canadian players from falling through the cracks by giving them opportunities in their own domestic league that they might not receive elsewhere.
Like York’s opener, Forge’s equalizer in the 78th minute was created and finished off by a pair of young Canadians. Emery Welshman sent a cross from the byline into the penalty box to Ladell Thomas, who controlled the ball before curling an exquisite shot high into the far corner. Aside from scoring the opening goal on Saturday, Telfer was praised by York 9 coach Jim Brennan for his bright attacking play and solid defensive work, giving a glimpse of the type of form that could lead to a return to MLS with TFC.
A 22-year-old from Brampton, Ont., Thomas played junior college soccer for Broward College in Florida and Cloud County Community College in Kansas. He also spent three seasons in League 1 Ontario where he played under current Forge FC coach Bobby Smyrniotis. The sense of occasion and the difficult road he took to get this point wasn’t lost on Thomas when speaking to reporters after Saturday’s game.
Aparcio, 23, signed with TFC in 2013 after graduating from the team’s youth academy. After spending time out on loan and with the team’s farm club, he was let go by TFC in 2015 after failing to play a single MLS game. Since then, he’s bounced around teams in Spain’s lower divisions before joining York 9 in January. Brennan named him team captain, so certain he was of the youngster’s quality and character.
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