The Vancouver Whitecaps will look to book a place in the Voyageurs Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday, carrying a 2-1 lead over Cavalry FC into their home tie.

The Caps were minutes away from having a 2-0 lead for the return leg, something which would have probably put them out of sight of their Canadian Premier League opposition.

But a late Malcolm Shaw goal will give Cavalry a lift as they head to BC Place, giving them a lifeline in hopes of pulling off a similar upset to the one they managed in 2019, when a 2-1 win sent the Caps packing.

Cavalry grabbed a couple of draws in the CPL since they last tangled with the Caps, including a 2-2 draw over the weekend with York United, where they created substantially more chances than the opposition but still feel short of grabbing a much-needed win.

Toby Warschewski has returned from injury to join Shaw up top and both were on the scoresheet against York, as Cavalry try to get their offense out of neutral and into gear in time to overcome their deficit against the Caps.

That effort will continue to be hampered by injuries, with Ali Musse remaining sidelined by ankle problems. Sergio Camargo is also a possible miss due to injury and Shamit Shome will continue to serve his red card suspension from the last round, meaning it will be a depleted midfield for Cavalry.

The Caps have some injury issues of their own, however, with Damir Kreilach and Andres Cubas a possibility for the weekend against Inter Miami but that won’t do their side much good in the midweek.

You would hope the Caps will still have enough firepower but fatigue is starting to be a real concern for Vanni Sartini’s side, as it will be the third straight week in a row with multiple matches. The last time Brian White and Ryan Gauld got any meaningful rest was against Cavalry the first time and you would think Vanni might go back to a split shift, unless the tie is out-of-sight early, with 45 minutes for each of the Caps’ star men.

Isaac Boehmer seems a good bet to return to the lineup and the two stars of the first leg, Levonte Johnson and Ali Ahmed, plus Ryan Raposo, will all help in the Canadian quota department. Sebastian Berhalter will replace Cubas, you’d think, unless Vanni decides to go back to the well with Ralph Priso. Cyprian Kachwele will get the call for the senior team but given that we went 45 minutes for the Whitecaps 2 side on Sunday, it would be doubtful he’d start.

Despite conceding that late goal in Calgary, not advancing would be a pretty catastrophic collapse from the Caps. Cavalry know how to pull upsets, even on the road, so the threat certainly shouldn’t be discounted here but given their injury situation, the Caps will have a clear advantage, particularly given that the CPL side will need to attack in search of goals. Opportunities will be there on the counter early and if the Caps can put one of those away, it will help them resolve the tie quickly. If not? Well, hopefully not a repeat of 2019.