Monday night at Spruce Meadows, the Vancouver Whitecaps will look to validate their commanding 4-1 first-leg victory over Cavalry FC by booking their place in the Canadian Championship semifinals with another strong performance.

After six weeks away from competitive action, the Whitecaps looked sharp in their return to the pitch last week. They’ll hope to carry that momentum into Monday’s second leg as they begin a road swing that won’t see them return home until the start of August.

For Cavalry, the focus has to be on producing a positive result, regardless of the aggregate score. Trailing by three goals, and with away goals no longer a factor, the road back into this tie is incredibly steep. Even so, earning a draw or a narrow victory over Vancouver, even if it isn’t enough to advance, would provide a welcome emotional boost as the Cavs continue their pursuit of Forge atop the CPL standings.

Vancouver fielded a strong starting XI in the first leg at Swangard, and Jesper Sørensen confirmed afterward that he intends to do the same on Monday. It will be interesting to see whether either Sebastian Berhalter or Andrés Cubas are ready for minutes ahead of the Whitecaps’ return to MLS play. Meanwhile, I’d expect both Ranko Veselinović and Ryan Gauld to see increased workloads as they continue building match fitness for the second half of the season.

This could also be a good opportunity for Rayan Elloumi to earn a start. It’s been a difficult first half of the year for the young forward. Minutes have been hard to come by in Vancouver, and while he earned a place in Tunisia’s World Cup squad, he didn’t see the field at all, as the team changed managers midway through the tournament. Because of that, seeing him score at Swangard last Wednesday was an encouraging moment. Vancouver will need him to play a larger role down the stretch, particularly if Brian White misses time or goes through a dip in form.

If Cavalry are going to make this second leg uncomfortable for Vancouver, they’ll need to improve significantly in at least one of two areas.

First, they were completely overrun in midfield in the opening leg, with Baldisimo and Kobza struggling to cope in the double pivot. Vancouver consistently controlled the centre of the pitch, limiting Cavalry’s ability to establish possession or progress through midfield.

Second, the Cavs weren’t nearly effective enough in transition. While they have dangerous attacking players, the Whitecaps executed their offside trap extremely well and rarely allowed Cavalry to isolate defenders in wide one-on-one situations. On balance, I think Tommy Wheeldon’s side is more likely to find success through quicker transition attacks than by trying to win the midfield battle, but we’ll see if they’re able to make those adjustments.

Ultimately, while this second leg should be relatively straightforward for Vancouver, there’s still plenty worth watching. From the Whitecaps’ perspective, several players will be looking to build fitness and stake their claim for bigger roles ahead of the MLS restart. For Cavalry, the challenge is to show they can trouble Vancouver far more than they managed in the opening leg, even if overturning the aggregate deficit remains a daunting task.