The Halifax Wanderers Football Club heads out on the road this week with pre-season shifting to Ontario for the rest of March.

The Wanderers flew to Toronto on Wednesday to set up camp in Mississauga. The trip includes four pre-season games ahead of the 2022 Canadian Premier League Season.

“We’ve had a great couple of weeks at home in Halifax, setting the tempo for the season and bringing the new players and staff into the group,” Wanderers Sporting Director Matt Fegan said.

“Now we get a few games in against strong opposition so we can see how the squad is shaping up, which will be important before the real action starts in April.”

First is a meeting with League1 Ontario side Vaughan Azzurri (Friday, March 18), a club that is no stranger to the Wanderers. Halifax defeated Vaughan in a two-legged playoff in the 2019 Canadian Championship. The Azzurri finished first in the 2021 League1 East Division with a regular-season record of 11-1-0.

Next is the second of three meetings with League1 Ontario sides, as the Wanderers take on Woodbridge Strikers (Wednesday, March 23). After that, the club gears up for a test against a rival Canadian Premier League squad when they visit Forge FC (Saturday, March 26). The Wanderers met with Forge five times in the 2021 season, recording one win, two losses and two draws.

Finally, the Wanderers wrap up their exhibition schedule against Simcoe County Rovers, a club from Barrie, Ont. making its League1 debut this season.

“The season is coming around quick, so it’s great to have these pre-season games,” said Wanderers defender Peter Schaale. “We started with one that was pretty positive and now we go on the road for more and I think that is going to be good for us for sure.”

Following training camp, the Wanderers will return to Halifax to prepare for their 2022 season opener on Thursday, April 7, against York United FC.

Coverage of the exhibition matches, including starting lineups and scores, will be found on the Wanderers’ social media pages (@HFXWanderersFC on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook). No live stream is available.

ROSTER UPDATES:

Reinforcements will arrive at Wanderers training camp in the coming days, with defender Eriks Santos scheduled to join the club on Thursday. The 26-year-old from Brazil made 20 appearances for the Wanderers in 2021.

Meantime, forward Alex Marshall is also nearing a return to the squad.

FULL HFX WANDERERS FC PRE-SEASON EXHIBITION SCHEDULE:

March 11 vs. CS Dieppe (7-0 win)
March 18 vs. Vaughan Azzurri (4 p.m. ET)
March 23 vs. Woodbridge (7:05 p.m. ET)
March 26 vs. Forge FC (2 p.m. ET)
March 31 vs. Simcoe County Rovers (7 p.m. ET)