CLEVE DHEENSAW
sa国际传媒
Pacific FC is discovering how quickly fortunes can shift in the pandemic-abbreviated Canadian Premier League. The week began Sunday with the euphoria of making the playoff group stage with a dramatic 2-1 late win over FC Edmonton in the final opening-round game.
Just as suddenly, a muted PFC is at the foot of that second-round table following the emphatic 3-1 loss to Cavalry FC of Calgary on Wednesday evening. That followed the 1-1 draw between defending-champion Forge FC of Hamilton and HFX Wanderers of Halifax in the first game of the playoff round and which featured a controversial penalty that allowed Forge to tie the game.
Cavalry FC avenged a 2-1 loss to PFC in the opening round of the CPL tournament being staged amid a bubble in Charlottetown, P.E.I. The Calgary team, co-favourite for the title with Forge FC, weren鈥檛 about to let PFC sneak up on them a second time.
鈥淧acific tore us apart the first time we met. Today was a bit of pay back. That looks more like us,鈥� said Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
鈥淵ou give yourself a head start and a fighting chance [with a first-game playoff win].鈥�
Hometown Calgary-product Nik Ledgerwood, capped 50 times for sa国际传媒, opened scoring from the penalty spot at 15 minutes for Cavalry after Mohamed Farsi was taken down in the box.
鈥淲e put ourselves on the back foot with that early goal allowed and we were fighting an uphill battle after that,鈥� said PFC midfielder Jamar Dixon.
PFC head coach Pa-Modou Kah echoed those sentiments.
鈥淲e have given away five penalties [in the tournament]. That is far too many,鈥� he said.
鈥淐algary did not allow us to play and punished us when we made mistakes. They took the chances we created for them. You win some and lose some. We beat them the other day and they beat us today. That is football. They wanted revenge and studied us. Credit to Calgary.鈥�
Elijah Adekugbe made it 2-0 for Cavalry at 49 minutes. A tight battle for the ball between Sean Young of PFC and Dominick Zator of Cavalry was won by the hometown Victoria-product Young to bring PFC to within one with his first career pro goal. But Farsi applied the final dagger with a goal at 75 minutes.
PFC pressed and had good possession in the latter stages but could not make anything of it.
鈥淐algary was very compact and we could not go forward,鈥� said sa国际传媒-capped Dixon.
The win was sweet for 27-time sa国际传媒 capped former PFC striker Marcus Haber, who now plays for Cavalry.
The playoff group stage is a round-robin. PFC meets Forge FC at 9 a.m. Saturday in a nationally-televised game on CBC before closing against HFX on Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. The top-two teams in the playoff round-robin advance to the one-game league final Sept. 19 at 11 a.m. on CBC. All times are PDT.
鈥淲e have excellent character and the guys kept working and that鈥檚 all we can ask for,鈥� said Dixon, the former Victoria Highlanders PDL player.
鈥淲e are still feeling positive.鈥�
Kah concurred: 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to win. Nothing changes in that regard. We have two games left.鈥�
The CPL champion will advance to meet the top Canadian team from Major League Soccer for the Canadian Championship, this nation鈥檚 FA Cup-type title. The Vancouver Whitecaps, Montreal Impact and Toronto FC are playing in a sa国际传媒-only MLS tournament to decide who will advance against the CPL champion. The Canadian champion will represent the nation in the CONCACAF Champions tournament against the club champions from the U.S., Mexico, Central America and Caribbean.