There is no more sweeter revenge in sports than that against a former team. Ollie Bassett, who called Starlight Stadium home with 2021 Canadian Premier League champion Pacific FC, made no mistake in burying his penalty kick at 53 minutes as Atlético Ottawa salvaged a 2-2 draw against league-leading PFC on Friday night.
“There is always a little bit extra playing against an old team but I treat it as just another game,” said the former Northern Ireland Under-19 international. “This is a good point. We deserved a point,” added the 2022 CPL MVP.
PFC captain Josh Heard missed his penalty kick, taken with less conviction at 84 minutes, as Atlético Ottawa goalkeeper Nathan Ingham guessed right and got comfortably to the ball. It was awarded when Diego Espejo of Ottawa was red carded for blatantly pushing striding Tridents forward Djenairo Daniels from behind in the box.
“We should have taken three points. But you learn from that and move forward,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
“[Ottawa] came to kill the game … [yet] we conceded two goals. I’m not happy with that. We had no flow and rhythm. They are not easy to play.”
Bassett was flitting all over the pitch like a water-bug and gave Samuel Salter a pass to make it 1-0 for Ottawa at 19 minutes. “We know his quality and he showed it,” said Merriman. “We respect him and his development.”
Pinching Tridents defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère equalized as the selection for sa国际传媒 in CONCACAF Tokyo Olympic qualifying play got his head to a corner in first-half injury time. Forward Ayman Sellouf continued his breakout season and gave the Tridents the lead at 49 minutes on an Olympico, a corner that curls directly into the net. “It was frustrating for us to concede on two set pieces,” said Bassett.
Pacific FC is 7-1-4 in wins-losses-draws and six points clear of second-place Forge FC of Hamilton, Ont., with two games in hand. That is hardly academic as the regular season matters more in soccer than other sports, with this year’s CPL regular-season and playoff champions both advancing to play in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions League.
Atlético Ottawa, owned by La Liga giant Atlético Madrid, is 3-6-3 and in seventh place after beating PFC in the playoff semifinals and reaching the league final last year.
The Tridents play third-place Cavalry FC of Calgary in a key game next Friday at Starlight Stadium.
CORNER KICKS: Atlético Ottawa was missing Malcolm Shaw, who is among six players from the CPL away with their national teams during the international window.
Shaw and Andre Rampersad of HFX Wanderers are with Trinidad and Tobago, Jonathan Grant of York United and Marcus Simmons of Vancouver FC with Guyana and Garven Metusala of Forge FC with Haiti, all at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, while Pacifique Niyongabire of Valour FC is with Burundi at the Africa Cup of Nations.
That’s on top of two CPL alumni with sa国际传媒 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, ex-Cavalry FC player Victor Loturi, now with Ross County in Scotland, and Dominick Zator out of Cavalry FC and York United, now with Korona Kielce in Poland. Six CPL alumni, including former PFC defender Lukas MacNaughton of Nashville SC in MLS, were on the 53-player sa国际传媒 selection long list.
“International caps are so important and shows the CPL is growing,” said Atlético Ottawa head coach and Spaniard Carlos González. “In the future, we hope for more, say something like 19 players called up, and having to stop the league [for the international window].”
