Toronto FC faces Inter Miami, needing a win to keep its slim playoff hopes alive

CF Montreal has surged above the Major League Soccer playoff line with a late-season unbeaten run.

Now the players will try to keep their foot on the gas and clinch their spot in the post-season.

“The most important thing is not to get complacent, not to get comfortable where we’re at,” goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois said Friday. “We know, especially in this league, how everything could change after one game.”

Montreal (10-12-10) won its third straight game by defeating Atlanta United 2-1 on Wednesday — its first road victory since March 10 — and climbed to eighth in the Eastern Conference ahead of the penultimate Matchday at seventh-place Charlotte FC on Saturday.

Laurent Courtois’s side has 40 points, three clear of ninth-place Toronto FC, 10th-place Philadelphia Union and 11th-place D.C. United. Toronto, however, only has one game remaining on the calendar.

A victory on Saturday would guarantee Montreal a playoff berth provided one of D.C. or Philadelphia doesn’t win their respective matches. If Montreal draws, it can still clinch if either D.C. or Philadelphia loses.

The eighth- and ninth-place teams face off in a wild-card game on Oct. 22. The winner would meet Argentine superstar Lionel Messi and Supporters’ Shield winners Inter Miami CF in a best-of-three series beginning Oct. 25.

Sirois hopes Montreal can secure its place before meeting New York City FC at home on MLS Decision Day on Oct. 19, which follows an international break, but he also isn’t keen on settling for a wild-card spot.

With Charlotte (12-11-9) five points ahead in the standings, he believes Montreal should be gunning for seventh.

“The mentality I’d like to go into Saturday’s game with is the one where we’re trying to go for the seventh place, where we’re trying to go and win in Charlotte and make that possible,” Sirois said.

Defender George Campbell doesn’t believe Montreal should change its approach now that they’re the ones defending a playoff spot instead of chasing it.

“We can’t get complacent and overconfident or cocky, but we have to know that we’re a good team and we can compete with anyone,” Campbell said.

Amid a roller-coaster season that featured a nine-game winless streak, Montreal is hitting its stride at the perfect moment, earning 12 out of a possible 15 points in its last five matches.

Sirois said players struggled to find consistency while learning the system of their first-year head coach, but now they’re running on all cylinders.

“Each player is doing what they need to do and performing very well individually, which makes us very strong together,” he said.

It helps when one of those individuals is the team’s striker delivering on what he’s paid to do.

Josef Martinez, a league MVP in 2018, is turning back the clock of late with five goals in three outings, including both goals against Atlanta — his former club.

“He can do and execute stuff that nobody else can, and when he’s like this with the proper service, he’s unstoppable,” Courtois said after Wednesday’s win. “He’s one of the most exciting players I’ve ever seen, it’s an honour for me to coach him.”

After juggling his squad much of the season, Courtois has leaned on a nearly identical starting 11 the last three games.

That will likely have to change on Saturday with Montreal playing its third contest in eight days.

“The turnaround is short. There are players who are performing and have a lot of minutes, and there are also players who are fresh,” he said. “We’ll try to make the least risky decisions possible.”

Montreal’s strong run of form started with a 2-1 home victory against a defensively stout Charlotte side on Sept. 14. Sirois expects a more “aggressive” match on the road at Bank of America Stadium.

“Tomorrow, Charlotte might have a bit more possession, wanting to attack us a bit more,” he said. “At the end of the day, there might be a bit more pressure on them because they know that if we win, we’re two points behind them.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.

EDMONTON – After losing two in a row to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Edmonton Elks’ playoff hopes hang by a thread.

The 5-10 Elks will need to win their final three games of the regular season — at Commonwealth Stadium this Saturday to Saskatchewan, on the road to Calgary and then the home finale against the Toronto Argonauts — to have any sort of post-season chance.

“We’ve got a three-game regular season right now, that’s the way we’re approaching it,” said Elks head coach Jarious Jackson as his team prepared for the Riders. “It starts this weekend with Sask.”

After an 0-7 start, the Elks caught fire and won five out of six. But two lopsided back-to-back losses against the Blue Bombers have put the team’s playoff hopes in critical condition. The Elks haven’t made the playoffs since 2019.

“It’s bigger than that,” said quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson who threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns in last weekend’s 55-27 loss to the Bombers. “It’s about pride. It’s about who the hell we are and how we want to finish. It’s about pride in what we do, pride in how we operate. If you truly love the game of football, you have pride in it.

“It’s been an unbelievably tough season. Three games to decide it. This is what it comes down to.”

Meanwhile the Riders (7-7-1) can clinch a playoff spot with a win on Saturday — as long as they get help. The Lions would need to beat the Stampeders, and the Blue Bombers would need to triumph over the Tiger-Cats this weekend to set up that scenario.

Coach Corey Mace expects a game where two teams will treat it like their backs are against the wall.

“I’m sure Edmonton is (motivated), but the reality is, so are we,” said Mace. “We really just kind of focus inward on getting the job done for ourselves. If we handle what we’re supposed to handle, everything will fall where it needs to fall.”

The Riders will likely start the game with their No. 3 option at running back, Frankie Hickson, getting the bulk of the carries. A.J. Ouellette is on the six-week disabled list, and Ryquell Armstead is out with a bad shoulder.

“I’d lean Frankie, but nothing is out of the equation, yet,” said Mace.

Hickson has 392 yards rushing on 76 carries this season. Thomas Bertrand-Hudon will deputize him.

Meanwhile, the Riders remember that the Elks ran them over the last time these two teams met. In Week 9, the Elks rushed for 276 yards in a 42-31 win, with Javon Leake going off for 169 of them.

Leake was limited in practice this week, as he recovers from a thigh issue. He is listed as active on the depth chart. But running back Kevin Brown will miss the game due to injury,

“The running game’s awesome,” Bethel-Thompson said of the team’s rushing corps, which also includes Justin Rankin. The trio of Leake, Brown and Rankin have combined for 1,594 rushing yards this season, so even with Brown out, the Elks should be in good shape when the ball is handed off.

For Bethel-Thompson, it’s about the rest of the offence offering the running game the help it needs.

“The running game has been there. It’s about executing on second down and staying on the field,” he said.

Jackson said the Elks’ recent win over Saskatchewan was closer than it appeared. In fact, the Riders held a 21-20 lead over the Elks after three quarters.

“It was a very close game,” Jackson said. “Don’t get fooled by what the end score was because, at the end of the day, we popped a couple at the end of the game to make it a little bit out of reach.”

SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (7-7-1) AT EDMONTON ELKS (5-10)

Saturday, Commonwealth Stadium

DEFENSIVE BOOSTS: The Elks and Riders got good news this week, as they both get key defensive backs back to health. Riders DB C.J. Reavis is expected to return after a one-week absence. And, the Elks get Darrius Bratton back into the fold.

“I told the coaches I’m not missing more games,” said Reavis. “I wanted to play last week.”

OPENING DAY MEMORIES: The Riders beat the Elks 29-21 at Commonwealth Stadium in the 2024 season opener for both teams. Receiver Shawn Bane caught three touchdown passes.

OFFENCE DOESN’T WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Elks are 5-10, despite leading the CFL in offensive points per game (28.1), touchdowns (46) and being second in yards per game (376.4) and first downs (325).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.

The Tamil Golfers Association of Canada was founded with the simple goal of getting as many people from their community as possible to try out the sport that they love.

More than a dozen of their members will have a unique opportunity to get more comfortable on the golf course as they participate in Golf Town’s 400some on Sunday. Tharmalingam (Siva) Sivaraj, a member of the Tamil Golfers Association’s managing committee, is one of the golfers participating in the event at The Club at Bond Head in Beeton, Ont.

“The main idea of the 400some is to let the people know that this sport can be introduced to you if you have the initiative to come and take part,” said Sivaraj, noting that the event’s purpose perfectly dovetails with the TGA’s. “When I first joined there was a lot of intimidation, a lot of fear, a lot of embarrassment in the beginning.

“That will be easily broken by participating in the 400some, because people are going to be coming from different skill sets, from different walks of life and so forth.”

The 400some is exactly what it sounds like.

Four groups of 100 golfers will play Bond Head at the same time. After six holes, all four groups will line up together and take tee shots in unison, putting hundreds of balls in the air at the same time.

“It’s going to be a chaotic situation,” laughed Sivaraj. “It’s scramble ball, so my mindset is to score birdies on every hole.

“I’m hoping that we’ll be able to do that with 100 people playing. One of them should be able to birdie each hole.”

The 400some was organized by Golf Town and Random Golf Club, a group that puts the emphasis on playing golf rather than competing at it. Erik Anders Lang, the founder and CEO of Random Golf Club, likes to compare it to surfing.

“When we talk about golf, we say we ‘go play golf.’ But it feels like, actually, what people really do is they go work at golf, you know?” said Lang. “Is there a way to practice surfing? I don’t know of one. Is there a deep obsession in surfing with your board? Or is it more just a personal connection that you have?

“Golf has this kind of weird perversion of what’s important. I think it’s because golf on television tells us what to think. The great thing about golf is that it’s actually not a game to be watched. It’s a game to be played.”

That’s why Lang helped create the 400some and other mass scramble golf events. With hundreds of golfers all going at the same time, it helps players — especially novices — forget their hang-ups.

“It’s supposed to break the mould of what everyone thinks golf is,” said Lang. “Whether you’re a non-golfer, whether you’re a new golfer, or whether you’re a longtime golfer, it’s aimed at basically saying, ‘hey. wake up. You can make golf whatever you want it to be.'”

As proof of concept, the Tamil Golfers Association of Canada had its 15 tickets for the event all claimed within eight minutes. It’s exactly the kind of breakthrough that Sivaraj hopes to see in his organization’s membership.

“We have a TGA Academy where they get novice golfing lessons subsidized by our organization,” said Sivaraj, noting that Golf Town contributes directly to that program. “This is why we’re so excited. We are continuously growing and the members’ contribution to our communities and society here in Canada will be enormous down the road.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.

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