With bright white snow littering the ground around David Rodríguez, the Mexican attacking midfielder won the Canadian Premier League final for Atletico Ottawa with a deft touch in the second half of extra time. Shortly after, Rodríguez slipped and fell into a giant snowbank behind the goal, an image that defines Atletico Ottawa’s first CPL championship, with a 2-1 over Calgary’s Cavalry FC.
As the first snowstorm of the season fell throughout the province of Ontario, Atletico Ottawa and Cavalry FC competed through treacherous snow and blizzard-like conditions in front of 13,132 fans, making for a remarkable Canadian Premier League Final. Atletico Ottawa — owned by Spanish giants Atletico Madrid — entered the league as an expansion team in 2020.
The heavy, continuous snowstorm over TD Place meant the Final had to be stopped on five different occasions through the first 90 minutes so snow could be shovelled off key areas of the field. Kickoff was delayed for 20 minutes because of the weather, as crew at TD Place used snowblowers and shovels to clear lines on the field. In the 16th minute, Atletico Ottawa goalkeeper Nathan Ingham grabbed a shovel and began shovelling the field himself.
NATHAN INGHAM IS SHOVELLING! ❄️
🔴 Watch the #CanPL final LIVE on OneSoccer, TSN & FuboTV pic.twitter.com/AfS6WIaIcD
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) November 9, 2025
As the Final headed into extra time, the game entered a delay of nearly an hour, as trucks with snowplows came in to clear the field.
Passes slowed to a crawl as they got stuck in accumulating snow. Players could not accelerate for fear of falling. It became difficult for fans at TD Place to track the ball at times.
None of which seemed to bother players. The relentless, driving snow seemed to bring out a heightened level of intensity. Tempers flared as multiple serious fouls were not called.
Cavalry midfielder Fraser Aird, who spent five seasons with Rangers in Scotland, opened the scoring with a penalty goal that rolled through the snow and into the back of Atletico’s goal in the 33rd minute.
GOAL ⚽️
Fraser Aird puts @CPLCavalryFC ahead from the spot in the 2025 final 🔥
🔴 Watch the #CanPL final LIVE on OneSoccer, TSN & FuboTV pic.twitter.com/xh7NsqCA6Q
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) November 9, 2025
Seven minutes later, Rodríguez scored one of the most remarkable goals in Canadian soccer history: as the snow blew sideways, creating conditions that would make for hazardous driving, Rodríguez leapt into the air and fired a bicycle kick off the Cavalry crossbar and into the back of the net to tie the game.
GOAL 🦖
DAVID RODRIGUEZ ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!
BICYCLE KICK GOAL IN THE 2025 CANADIAN PREMIER LEAGUE FINAL TO LEVEL THINGS UP FOR @atletiOttawa 🤯🤯🤯
🔴 Watch the #CanPL final LIVE on OneSoccer, TSN & FuboTV pic.twitter.com/4RhNsBI4zH
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) November 9, 2025
“This weather is for the brave,” Cavalry head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. told OneSoccer before kickoff. “(The Final) is going to turn from a musical to an action movie. You have to play the game to the conditions.”
While the wintery conditions made for a memorable Final, it raises questions about how similar weather could affect games in Canada, once MLS inevitably switches to the European calendar, which runs from late summer through the spring.
On Sunday, the driving snow subsided once the Final resumed after the hour-long break. Coaches between the two teams agreed that, instead of a customary five-minute break between the two halves of extra time, both teams would switch halves and resume play almost immediately.
The CPL Final would finally conclude, over four hours after it was scheduled to kick off.
