Atletico beats York United 4-3 to advance to Canadian Championship semifinals

TORONTO — Samuel Salter and Aboubacar Sissoko scored late in the second half to give the visiting Atletico side a 4-3 victory over York United on Tuesday, winning the two-game aggregate score 6-4 in Canadian Championship quarterfinal action at York Lions Stadium.

With the victory, the Ottawa-based squad advances to the semifinals.

Forge beat Montreal 1-0 in the series opener on May 20.

Julian Altobelli gave York a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute on Tuesday, but David Rodriguez tied the match seven minutes later.

Salter scored his first goal of the game at the 22-minute mark to give Aletico a 2-1 lead. Four minutes later Elijah Adekugbe was shown a red card, forcing York to play the remainder of the match with 10 men.

Despite being a man down, Altobelli tied the game 2-2 with his second goal in the 37th minute. Massimo Ferrin then gave the hosts a 3-2 lead with a goal in the 53rd minute.

But Salter, in the 84th minute, and Sissoko two minutes into injury time, lifted Atletico to the 4-3 victory.

Atletico outshot York United 14-11 (8-7 on target), had possession 69 per cent of the time, had 11 fouls compared to York’s 10, and had more corners (7-1).

Atletico won the first leg 2-1 on June 11.

Meanwhile, at ATCO Field in Calgary’s Spruce Meadows, Vancouver FC defeated host Cavalry 5-4 in a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals.

Former Vancouver Whitecap Nicolas Mezquida gave Vancouver FC a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute when he scored on a penalty kick.

Cavalry tied the match 1-1 in the 66th minute on a Vancouver own goal, setting the stage for a six-round shootout to determine the series winner.

The teams had played to a 1-1 draw in the series opener on May 21 in Langley, B.C.

Cavalry outshot the visitors 14-10 on Tuesday and controlled possession for 58 per cent of the match, but Vancouver led 3-1 in shots on target. Each team had three yellow cards.

A draw will be held to determine the tournament semifinal pairings. Wednesday’s quarterfinal second leg matches feature the Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS) and Valour FC (CPL) (series tied 2-2) and CF Montreal (MLS) and Forge FC (CPL) (Forge leads 1-0).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2025.