Krutzen scores late, Forge FC draw 1-1 with Supra du Québec in Canadian Championship

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

Ibrahim Condé 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 competitions.

As is common in two-legged ties, the match got off to a very cautious start with neither team looking to expose themselves to an opener. As both teams grew into the game, Forge exercised increasing control of the ball, while Supra built a solid defensive block and looked to hit back with pace.

Supra’s discipline paid off in the 36th minute when Condé won the ball at midfield and immediately sprung Loic Kwemi on a counterattack. After waiting a beat, Kwemi played the ball back to Condé, who slotted the shot into the left corner to give the hosts the lead.

Forge responded immediately, creating several strong scoring opportunities and forcing two excellent saves out of goalkeeper Joachim Milli, but still went into the break down a goal.

Forge ramped up the pressure in the second in search of an equalizer and continued to ask questions of the Supra defence, who could not seem to build out from the back consistently.

“We did prepare for this; we just had some trouble adjusting to it in the moment (…) you can’t play games with fear, you can’t play big teams with fear, you have to face that,” said Razzaghi. “Playing against such an experienced team in such a big moment is not easy; we saw some nerves from players and their decision-making, and that’s not us.”

Just after the hour mark, Krutzen had a wide-open shot, but was met by the right post, and Kyle Bekker saw another golden opportunity in the penalty area fly over the net.

As time wound down, the stage was set for Krutzen’s heroics. With the last kick of the game, Bekker sent a long free kick to the back post and in the ensuing chaos, the Dutch defender found himself completely unmarked and fired home the dramatic equalizer.

“I think the goalkeeper thought the ball was going out of bounds with some of the guys but Max (Bourgeois) did a great job of putting it back in. I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Krutzen.

The second leg of the semifinal is scheduled for Sept. 15 in Hamilton.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 1, 2026.