Second-half rally lifts Cavalry FC past Mexico’s Pumas UNAM in CONCACAF cup play

Cavalry FC's Sergio Camargo attempts a shot on net as Pumas UNAM's Ricardo Galindo tries to steal the ball way during first half soccer action in round one of the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup in Langford, B.C., on Thursday, February 6, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Tobias Warschewski scored a highlight-reel goal in the 80th minute to give Cavalry FC a memorable 2-1 comeback win over Mexico’s Pumas UNAM in the opening leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup first-round series Thursday.

The victory came in Cavalry’s first competitive game since winning the Canadian Premier League championship Nov. 9.

The deciding play started when Ali Musse found Jay Herdman in the Pumas penalty box. Herdman headed it over to Warschewski, who deftly flicked it from one foot to another to evade a defender before poking the ball past goalkeeper Alex Padilla.

The goal by Warschewski, who led the CPL in scoring last season with 14 goals, survived a lengthy video review for offside before it was confirmed by Guatemalan referee Mario Escobar.

Warschewski said the team had to compose itself after falling behind.

“When you concede just before halftime a goal like that, I think everybody was a little bit head down into the locker-room,” said Warschewski. “But we showed character in the second half and I think we deserved the win today.”

Asked about the winning goal, the German forward said he wasn’t sure what happened on the play.

“Sometimes I just black out, I don’t know. I just touched it, finished it. I don’t know how really to explain it.”

Charlie Trafford’s 57th-minute goal had cancelled out a 44th-minute strike by Pumas' Canadian-Mexican teenager Santiago Lopez.

A night of firsts

It was a night of firsts, with Calgary’s Cavalry recording the CPL’s first-ever win over an elite Mexican side.

Trafford’s goal was a first for Cavalry against Liga MX opposition. And the 19-year-old Lopez opened his scoring account for the Pumas first team late in the first half.

But the series is not over.

The return leg is Feb. 13 at Mexico City’s Estadio Olímpico Universitario with the series winner moving on to face Costa Rica’s Liga Deportiva Alajuelense in the round of 16 of CONCACAF’s elite club competition.

A dual citizen, Lopez was a star for Canada at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in July 2024 and played for the Mexican under-18 team in two tournaments in 2023. He has yet to declare is international allegiance.

Lopez was born in Morelia, Mexico, and was four when his parents — his late father was an economist who worked in banking — moved to Ontario for work before returning to Mexico six years later.

Lopez joined the youth academy of Pumas UNAM in 2019 when he had just turned 14. He was the top scorer for the club’s under-18 side in 2023 with 10 goals.

He made his senior debut for Pumas UNAM off the bench in January 2024 in a 3-1 win over Pachuca in Mexico’s Liga MX play. Given the start Thursday, he took full advantage.

While Pumas had more of the ball and territory, the Cavalry defence initially held firm and looked to counterattack with Herdman — and father John Herdman watching from the stands — leading the way down the left flank.

But Pumas went ahead in the 44th minute when, after the Cavalry midfield was found wanting, goalkeeper Marco Carducci was unable to coral Peru international midfielder Piero Quispe’s low shot. The rebound went straight to Lopez who roofed a left-footed shot.

Trafford tied it up in the 57th minute, slashing through a static Pumas defence to acrobatically knock home an Ali Musse corner.

Lopez was replaced in the 73rd minute.

Snowy setting

Thursday’s game was shifted to Starlight Stadium on Vancouver Island to escape wintry conditions in Alberta for the second year in a row.

That was only partially successful.

There were some eight to 10 centimetres of snow on the ground Wednesday. While the only snowbank was outside the pitch, it didn’t stop some players slipping on the artificial turf. Temperature at kickoff was around zero.

Pumas defender Ricardo Galindo turned up the heat in the first minute, scything down Warschewski in a nasty tackle that earned a yellow card.

Pumas had 61 per cent of the possession in the first half and outshot Cavalry 4-2 (2-1 in shots on target).

While Pumas had 63 per cent possession on the night, Cavalry had a 7-5 edge in shots (3-2 in shots on target) and seven corners to the Mexicans' two. There were six cautions issued, with five shown to Cavalry.

In its first trip to CONCACAF’s elite club competition, Cavalry lost to Major League Soccer’s Orlando City last year (beaten 3-0 in the first leg in Langford before falling 3-1 in Florida).

Pumas have won the Champions Cup three times (1980, ’82 and ’89) and finished runner-up twice (2005 and ’22). The Mexican side made it to the quarterfinals last year before losing a penalty shootout to the eventual runner-up Columbus Crew.

Pumas currently sit seventh in the Liga MX Clausura at 2-1-2 after finishing fourth in the Apertura at 9-4-4.

Cavalry finished atop the CPL regular-season standings in both 2019 and 2023 and made the championship game three times, finally winning in November when it downed Forge 2-1.

That title earned Cavalry a place back in the Champions Cup. Pumas earned its berth as the third-best club in the 2023-2024 Liga MX aggregate table.

Forge FC lost 2-0 to Mexico’s CF Monterrey in Hamilton on Wednesday. The winner of that series will face either the Vancouver Whitecaps or Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa in the round of 16.

The 2025 champion earns a berth in the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2025