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FC Edmonton head coach Jeff Paulus was pulling for his rival in the Canadian Championship on Wednesday.

With their run to the semifinal, which included knocking off the Vancouver Whitecaps of the MLS, Cavalry FC of Calgary proved the level of play is not far off between the two leagues.

While MLS is still the pinnacle of North American professional soccer, Cavalry proved on a given day a Canadian Premier League side can more than hold its own against bigger, better funded clubs, losing 1-0 to the Montreal Impact on Wednesday in the second leg of the home-and-home series.

“I thought they gave themselves a chance (Wednesday) night because they’re so disciplined and they do the right things all the time,” Paulus said. “Players work so hard for (head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.) and for each other and so it was encouraging. They could have won that game if a couple of set pieces gone their way, we could be having a different conversation about the CPL.”