Krutzen scores late, Hamilton's Forge FC draw with Supra du Quebec in Canadian Championship

Daniel Krutzen's 95th-minute equalizer helped Forge FC secure a 1-1 draw against FC Supra du Quebec in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal at Stade Boreale on Tuesday evening.

Ibrahim Conde opened the scoring for Supra, who once again showed difficulty in closing out games.

"If you had told me that we'd be a game away from the Canadian Championship final, everyone would've said yes immediately, (but) it's disappointing obviously," said Supra head coach Nick Razzaghi. "We showed a lot of character, and we played solid defensively, and I don't even think we played that well according to our standards."

Supra and Forge met four days prior in Canadian Premier League action. Since then, ten changes to the starting lineups were made by the two teams.

After being thoroughly outplayed in the first matchup, Forge — playing in their fourth consecutive Canadian Championship semifinal — took time to readjust. They then came out and delivered a performance more in line with a team that has consistently been among the best in the CPL.

"There's a thing that you have to be careful of as a coach on a team that has traditionally had some success… you have to watch for subtle arrogance. That creeps up on you," said Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis.

"It's not an easy thing to go through this competition and play for a trophy. That's 90 minutes down, and we have 90 minutes to play, and it's a good result for us; now we go back to Hamilton Stadium where we enjoy our football"

To say Forge enjoys playing at home is something of an understatement. Since their creation in 2019, the four-time CPL champions have turned their home ground into a fortress, and this season is no different, having lost just once this season in all