Calgary crew leans into underwhelming third-place finish and defending champion status for title chase.

Third was the final word for Cavalry FC …

At least in the regular season of the Canadian Premier League.

It’s a standing that doesn’t elicit a lot of excitement to those outside the club.

After all, a third-place finish with a pedestrian regular-season record of 11W-8L-9D falls short of the high standard expected from one of the circuit’s flagship footie franchises.

But defending champion Cavalry is leaning into that so-called shortcoming of the 2025 CPL campaign with the playoffs now afoot.

“There’s always noise,” agreed Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci, ahead of Sunday’s CPL semifinal qualifier against York United FC at ATCO Field (4 p.m., TSN/OneSoccer, OneSoccer.ca).

“There’s

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