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There is no way around it — the Halifax Wanderers need offence on Wednesday.

The Canadian Premier League team is down 3-2 to Ottawa Fury FC of the United Soccer League in their Canadian Championship aggregate series and must win by at least two goals to advance to the next round. Game 2 of the series is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Atlantic time at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa.

“It’s a bit of a hole to climb out of because they have the away goals so in a tie situation their away goals will count,” said Halifax head coach Stephen Hart. “We need to score two goals and hope that they don’t score another one. We have some work to do.”

Putting any complicated math aside for the moment, the bottom line is the Wanderers have no choice but to adjust their tactics to something more aggressive offensively. The winner of the series advances to the next round against Toronto FC of the MLS.

“At some point you have to throw yourself forward and try to score but you also have to be careful you don’t give up more goals,” Hart said. “On one hand, you have to pick the right moments to go for it. But at the same time you don’t want to be reckless. We need to know when to take some calculated risks.”

The opening game of the home-and-home set was on July 10 at the Wanderers Grounds. The teams traded goals in one of the most exciting games at the pitch so far in the Wanderers maiden season. The match only swung Ottawa’s way in the 67th minute when the Fury snapped a 2-2 tie.

“I thought we did quite well against them,” Hart said. “They had one or two individuals that, on the day, did some very good things. The three goals they scored, without exaggerating, were spectacular. They were very special goals. But really and truly, I thought we handled ourselves very well. It’s just that on that day, it just seemed that their shooting boots were something special.”

Regardless of how it turns out, the Championships series has added a bonus wrinkle to the inaugural CPL season that really raised the profile and growing enthusiasm for the league.

“It’s always special to have some kind of Cup competition,” Hart said. “In most countries in the world, the Cup means a lot. Now our Cup extends to teams in lower divisions right up to MLS teams. It’s made for quite an exciting time for small clubs and the bigger clubs.”

Hart also reports a clean bill of health for his squad leading up to Wednesday’s game.

“We should have a full lineup,” Hart said. “Of course there are a few aches and pains but they should be fine.”

The Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS) play Cavalry FC (CPL) and the Montreal Impact (MLS) face York9 FC (CPL) in the other two series on Wednesday.