It’s that time of year again folks. That’s right, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the Caps are back on the road in Canadian Premier League stadiums. It’s Voyageurs Cup time baby.

Vancouver launches their bid to be Champions of Canada for a third straight year on Tuesday in Calgary against Cavalry FC. It is a match-up that has not been especially kind to the Caps over the years. There was, of course, the infamous 2019 defeat over two legs, the first of several Voyageurs Cup embarrassments. But the Caps needed penalties to get by Cavalry in 2022 as well, and while this Caps team is stronger than those iterations, the CPL side won’t be an easy out.

Cavalry wasn’t long for the CONCACAF Champions Cup earlier this year, losing 6-1 on aggregate to an Orlando City side that has been pretty weak this year. That should give the Caps some reason for optimism.

But Cavalry have been OK in the league, comfortably besting Vancouver FC over the weekend for their first league win (in fact, Cavalry have yet to beat any other team this season, beating the Langley side in the Voyageurs Cup as well). They did, however, draw with the top two teams in the table, Atletico Ottawa and Pacific, and arguably outplayed both sides, with more possession and shots in each of those matches.

There has been some rotation and formation tweaks this season but the 4-2-3-1 was what Cavalry rolled with last weekend. Tobias Warchewski tapped in for the goalless Malcolm Shaw and tallied twice. Indeed, while the start of the season featured a three-man backline, it was also characterized by a lack of goals. The formation switch might have hit on something.

Shamit Shome has been quite good for Cavalry as a holding midfielder but he will not feature after getting sent off in the last round of the Cup. Ali Musse seems likely to miss with injury as well, further thinning their ranks, and Tom Field also picked up a knock over the weekend. Old friends Marco Carducci and Fraser Aird (remember him?) will likely start, however.

There are personnel questions for Vancouver as well, with Sam Adekugbe out for what appears to be both legs of the tie. Damir Kreilach also has a knock and one imagines Fafa Picault isn’t fit enough to start two matches in a row at this point.

Vanni Sartini has already confirmed that Isaac Boehmer will start in goal, meaning the Caps will be one third of the way to their quota of Canadians to start the match. I’d expect Ryan Raposo to feature and it wouldn’t surprise me if Ralph Priso got handed his first start as a Caps player. A busy travel month makes me thing Vanni will try and grind out a result on the road with Ryan Gauld and Brian White on the bench, giving a potential opportunity for Levonte Johnson as well. You’d think Vanni would stick with his usual centrebacks to give the young keeper a break but otherwise I’d expect to see a lot of rotation here.

The fact that both sides are a bit shorthanded in this one makes it a bit of a mystery. The Caps seemingly will be content to manage things and then return to BC Place with the chance to open up the tie. Cavalry will want to maximize their match at home, but will lack three core contributors. Another wild card is the potential for rainy weather, which could drag the Caps down to the level of their opponents and help Cavalry snatch a goal they need to make Vancouver uncomfortable. Anything less than victory, even with a rotated squad, would be a major disappointment here but there are just enough question marks to make Caps fans a bit nervous.