Cavalry FC advances to Canadian Championship quarter-final with win over FC Edmonton

Goals by Joe Mason and Ben Fisk sent Cavalry FC through to the quarter-final of the Canadian Championship with a 2-0 victory over FC Edmonton on Sunday.

Mason scored with a header in the 31st minute to put the Calgary-based club ahead of their provincial rivals at Edmonton’s Clarke Field. Jose Hernandez headed a lovely floated cross by Jose Escalante onto the bar, with Mason there for the rebound.

Cavalry made it 2-0 in the 62nd minute when Fisk fed Mohamed Farsi in the box before getting the ball right back. Fisk’s low shot was then blocked by an Edmonton defender but the ball skipped over goalkeeper Darlington Murasiranwa.

Backup Cavalry ‘keeper Tyson Farago, replacing Marco Carducci, stopped both shots he faced for the clean sheet, including a powerful strike by Jeannot Esua in the 25th minute that he tipped over the bar with a diving save.

“Delighted in the way we managed their threats,” said Cavalry coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “Because this is their home park, to come up here and keep a clean sheet and get a couple of goals is always nice.”

Cavalry FC will face the winner of the Aug. 26 clash between Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps and Victoria-based Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League in the quarter-final.

The Canadian Championship was first held in 2008.