Few victories are as sweeter than ones against your former team. It’s more gratifying yet if you score the winning goal at 89 minutes, which is what former Pacific FC player Ben Fisk did in Cavalry FC’s 1-0 victory over the Tridents on Saturday in Calgary.
“It’s funny the way life works sometimes,” said Fisk.
“I’m happiest first and foremost about the win and ending the season on a high note. It was nice and cagey and good preview of playoff football.”
The result assured the Tridents will finish third or fourth in the Canadian Premier League table in closing their regular-season account 13-8-7 in wins-losses-draws. It also clinched for Atletico Ottawa the regular-season title. The rest of the seeding among the four playoff teams – PFC, Cavalry FC, Forge FC and Atletico Ottawa — will be decided during the regular-season ending games today.
Cavalry FC (14-9-5) jumped into second place to greatly enhance its chances of choosing in which venue order the two-legged playoff semifinal series will be played next Saturday and Oct. 22, a perk of being the higher-placed seed in the match-up.
“Having the second leg at home is huge,” said Fisk, who played seven games each with the Canadian U-20 and U-23 teams with two caps with the senior national team.
“We have the best stadium and fans in the league, although I’m sure fans of HFX [in Halifax] and PFC have something to say about that.”
PFC midfielder Cedric Toussaint said it also felt like the post-season: “It felt like a playoff game and was intense and prepared us for the playoffs quite well.”
The Tridents would have had a chance to finish first with a victory in Calgary, if Atletico Ottawa lost or drew today against York United.
“It was a little bit frustrating because we could have been top of the table with a win. I thought we deserved at least a point. But we went for the win and exposed ourselves in the back [on Fisk’s goal],” said Toussaint.
“In the playoffs now anything can happen, whether [seeded] first to fourth. We will wait to see who we play and focus on our opponent.”
The result halted a three-game PFC winning streak, all on clean sheets, and five-game unbeaten run. The Tridents were playing their second game in four day after dispatching Forge FC 1-0 on Wednesday night at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont.
“I can’t fault the players. There was maximum effort from every player,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
“We lacked quality. It’s fine margins. But it just wasn’t there tonight. That comes from fatigue. It was our second game in four days and this is not an easy place to come into. But we are even more motivated now and take a lot of confidence into the playoffs.”
