For Forge FC, Saturday afternoon's Canadian Premier League semi-final against Atletico Ottawa wasn't just about securing a sixth straight CPL final appearance it was also about upholding their dynasty and barring the 'SuperTeam', which sought to disrupt the league's hierarchy, access to the CPL's showcase event. Forge did just that.

The four-time CPL champions outlasted Atletico Ottawa 1-0 at Tim Hortons Field on Saturday afternoon to book their ticket to Calgary and a date with Cavalry FC in next weekend's CPL Grand Final.

It wasn't solely the usual suspects who have been pivotal in Forge's four championships that took the win on Saturday. Instead, it was a 22-year-old on-the-rise centre-back and a 25-year-old goalkeeper who Forge signed weeks before the season who played hero.

In a way, it's fitting. Forge has always transitioned seamlessly between personnel. Defender of the Year finalist in Manjrekar James left in the offseason. Fine, Saturday's match-winner Malik Owolabi-Belewu took his game to a new level. Goalkeeper Triston Henry and Forge parted ways in a messy ordeal. Jassem Koleilat stepped up to be the best shot-stopper in the biggest moments.

Continuity and change aren't just a concept you learn about in history class, according to Forge manager Bobby Smyrniotis. It's also the key ingredient in sustaining a winning culture. The growth of Owolabi-Belewu and the near-immediate success of Koleilat prove that.

Courtesy: Sean Pollock/Waking The Red "For the growth of the team, you'll always want some continuity, but that can't be the same continuity all the time," Smyrniotis told reporters, including Waking The Red, post-match at Tim Hortons Field. "You have to find the right fit of how to balance that and make sure you're not relying on the same guys all the time.

"Malik is a great example of that. Noah Jensen is a great example of that. Alessandro Hojabrpour is a great example of that, where they start becoming also natural leaders on the field. And the way it's kind of taken off of just a guy like Kyle Bekker or Tristan Borges."

Borges did not play, with Jensen pulling the strings in midfield, but Forge still needed their captain Bekker's help.

Owolabi-Belewu did the hard work in the trenches, fighting off Jesus del Amo to get to the ball, but it was Bekker who supplied the pristine corner kick that Owolabi-Belewu headed down and by a helpless Nathan Ingham in the 53rd minute.

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Ottawa lamented post-match how they knew they had to limit the set-pieces they gave Bekker, but didn't.

Forge only broke the deadlock because of what happened at the other end. Koleilat's official save count was four, although it felt like much more. He started by pushing a Manny Aparicio shot over the bar, then punching a ball away from Tyr Walker. Forge was bleeding chances quickly, with the ball all but glued to the feet of Ottleti attackers. Owolabi-Belewu and Dom Samuel, called in minutes before kickoff due to Garven Metusala's injury, kept Ottleti star Ballou Tabla relatively quiet. Matteo de Brienne made several runs at goal, with Malcolm Duncan holding strong.

After conceding an uncharacteristic goal last week that sent Cavalry to the final, redemption was on Forge's mind, particularly Koleilat's.

"You have the conversation with the coaches about what you can fix," Koleilat told reporters, including Waking the Red, post-match. "Coming into this week, it's not thinking about what happened the week before. I think Bobby's hammered that down. It's fresh legs, fresh minds."

Koleilat stayed snugly in his six-yard box, though Ottawa did force him to. How he kept his cool amid heavy bombardment is remarkable. It only allowed Koleilat to celebrate even more after each save.

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Veering away from the first semi-final wasn't the only previous result Forge had to keep off their minds. Ottawa notably beat Forge on three of four occasions in 2024. Smyrniotis recalled that two of those losses came on days when an outside circumstance directly impacted Forge's play, but he did have to rethink the approach. It tricked Ottleti.

"We wanted to change things up a little bit," Smyrniotis said. "If you see Forge over the years, we love our football, we love doing everything a certain way. But we are also known for changing things up quite a bit when it comes to one-off games, you know, we left them a little bit more on the ball, especially Amer Didic on the ball and he's probably going to then look at some longer passes into our half while we're a little bit closer to our goal and there's no space behind it."

Ottawa did struggle to break Forge's tight backline. Tabla and Ruben del Campo found no gaps to make runs in behind. All of Ottawa's possession resulted in very few genuine chances. Those started to come a bit more in the second half, with head coach Carlos Gonzalez feeling "satisfied."

But what was different for Ottawa compared to previous fixtures with Forge? From Aparicio's perspective, it was clear: Ottawa just couldn't bury.

"Other games, we scored early on," Aparicio said. "We played at our place. We started in that energy. They also came out today and didn't really press as much, so it kind of threw us off a little bit. I think the biggest thing, is they were able to capitalize. Then they're almost content with that and just kind of sitting back and seeing out the game."

The fight was one to be proud of. De Brienne blocked a Jensen shot with his head while lying on the turf. Didic took a few hits. It was painful in the moment, and surely stung even more once Ottawa's elimination was confirmed.

Courtesy: Sean Pollock/Waking The Red The possibility of Forge adding more silverware to the trophy case is intact. Koleilat knows what it takes to be a serial winner, his previous club was the dynastic LAFC. He sees a lot of the same traits in Forge.

"I didn't spend much time with the first team at LAFC, but there are a lot of similarities when we were on the training field," Koleilat said. "It's something I loved the second I got here, the experience you have guys that have been here and won time and time again. It's just impressive, honestly, I think on a daily basis, that they just want to win."

The old order that is Forge prevails, with generations new and old chipping in.