Atlético Ottawa draw Forge FC 2-2 in 1st leg of CPL semifinal

Over 6,000 fans at TD Place launching out of their seats as Atlético Ottawa's comeback began. Hamilton's Forge FC opened the scoring in the semifinal game, but Ottawa clawed its way back twice, finishing with a 2-2 draw. Oh, it was a great game. It was fantastic. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. TD Place is a fortress, and I think Ottawa did a really good job of holding it down, and they didn't panic. I find it stressful. It was 1-0, and then 1-1, and then 2-1, and then 2-2. And I just stayed 2-2, so it was really fun though also. Playoff energy was in the air, and a record number of fans for this season came out to be a part of it. Fans afterwards, desperate for what could be the last chance this season to interact with the players on home turf. 12 signatures just from today, although in the future I'm planning to get a few more hopefully. Who was your favourite that signed? Probably Baloo because he was the one who sort of tied us up. Not only did Baloo Tabla's goal tie the game up, it was also his 12th of the season, making him the club's all-time leading goal scorer with a total of 38. He represents a lot. He represents a lot. The first year I came here, I had a lot of objectives and probably this one wasn't one of my objectives, but my first one was to win, get a trophy with this club, so I'm very happy. The players remaining hopeful they can punch their ticket to the Canadian Premier League final and hold on to their title as reigning champions. We had a good performance, right? It's great. So, I'm not too disappointed. Obviously, it would have been nice to have won, but now we have everything to play for next weekend. We know that if we play our style and we go in there with confidence and keep possession of the ball and dictate the game that we can beat anyone. And that's what our mentality is going to be for next game. We know everything that we're playing for and it would be even sweeter if we win it over there now. The teams will go head-to-head one last time next Saturday in Hamilton. They'll then tally up the scores from both games and whoever comes out on top will move on to the CPL Final. Emma Weller, CBC News, Ottawa.