TORONTO — York United FC cruised to a 5-0 win over Quebec semi-pro side FC Laval in Telus Canadian Championship preliminary-round play Tuesday.
Julian Altobelli, Max Ferrari, Adonijah Reid, Bryan Rosa and Massimo Ferrin scored for the Canadian Premier League team at York Lions Stadium.
The well-drilled Quebec Ligue1 champions, making their second-ever appearance in the Voyageurs Cup competition, defended well until York struck twice on the eve of halftime. Things went downhill from there.
Altobelli opened the scoring in the 45th minute after captain Oswaldo Leon found him in the penalty box with a gorgeous left-footed feed from distance. The ball floated over the head of a defender to Altobelli, who pivoted and knocked the ball home.
Altobelli, a former Toronto FC 2 player, has had a dream start to life in the CPL with five goals in five games before Tuesday.
Three minutes later, Ferrari headed home Orlando Botello’s cross to make it 2-0. Laval’s French-born goalkeeper Martin Cantona, the nephew of former Manchester United star Eric Cantona, got a hand to the ball but could not keep it out.
York outshot Laval 11-3 (6-1 in shots on target) and had 59 per cent possession in the first half.
Reid upped the lead to 3-0 in the 52nd minute on a pretty goal. Ferrari started it on the right flank, beating a defender before sending in an accurate cross to the far post that Ferrin chested down for an unmarked Reid to poke home.
Rosa, bursting past two Laval defenders, beat Cantona with a low shot for a 4-0 lead in the 64th minute. Ferrin then scored from the penalty spot in the 79th minute.
York will face CPL-leading Atletico Ottawa in the quarterfinals.
In the late cup game Tuesday, Pacific FC hosted Vancouver FC in an all-CPL matchup.
On Wednesday, it’s Halifax Wanderers at Forge in another CPL showdown in Hamilton, and League1 B.C.’s TSS Rovers visit Winnipeg’s Valour FC.
Four teams had already made it to the two-legged quarterfinals, including the MLS-leading Vancouver Whitecaps who received a bye into the final eight as defending champion.
CF Montreal dispatched Toronto FC in a penalty shootout, CPL champion Cavalry FC blanked League1 Alberta’s Edmonton Scottish 6-0, and CPL-leading Atletico Ottawa downed League1 Ontario’s Scrosoppi FC 2-0.
Laval lost 3-0 at Forge FC in preliminary-round play in 2023 in its only other trip to the cup competition.
Laval, which topped Ligue1 Quebec last year with a 12-5-3 record, has had just one league outing to date this season — a 3-1 win at CS St-Hubert on April 25. But coach Amro Radwan says the team has been training since January.
The team, which only has a couple of holdovers from the 2023 squad that played in the cup competition, gets together three or four times a week in advance of matches.
The young talent on the Laval squad includes forward Ibrahim Conde, the lone Canadian invited to the MLS College Showcase in San Diego in December. Conde is a good friend and former college teammate of Canadian international defender Moise Bombito at Iowa Western Community College and the University of New Hampshire.
Laval was captained by midfielder Quentin Paumier, who won the U Sports men’s soccer championship with the Montreal Carabins in 2021 and was runner-up to UBC last November.
York (1-3-1) currently stands sixth in the eight-team CPL and is winless in four games (0-3-1) since the season-opening 2-0 victory at Vancouver FC on April 6.
York coach Mauro Eustaquio made four changes to the starting 11 that lost 2-1 to visiting Cavalry on Friday with Botello, Ferrin, Rosa and Frank Sturing slotting in.
Laval’s commitment to the cause was shown in the 11th minute when six-foot-four forward Ludwig Amra, a former Halifax Wanderer, ran over York goalkeeper Diego Urtiaga. Referee Ben Hoskins showed the yellow card to three Laval players in the first half.
York exited in the preliminary round of the cup last year, beaten 3-1 at Forge. York made the semifinals in 2022, winning penalty shootouts at Atletico Ottawa and Pacific FC before losing 2-1 at the Vancouver Whitecaps.
York’s only other cup fixture with a League1 club was in 2021 when it blanked Master’s FA 5-0 in preliminary-round play.
CS St-Laurent, the Ligue1 Quebec representative last year, upset Halifax in a penalty shootout before being thumped 11-1 in the two-legged quarterfinal by Toronto FC.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
