If Pacific FC isn’t enrolled in an air rewards program, it should look into one.
The Tridents have embarked on the longest road trip conducted by a club in the history of the Canadian Premier League. There are nearly 16,000 flying kilometres in the triangulated distance from Victoria to Halifax to San Jose, Costa Rica, then back to Victoria.
“Our group has been excellent in terms of handling themselves with professionalism regarding the flights and hotels this season and accepting this is all a part of the CPL league and CONCACAF journey,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
It’s a long journey, to be sure. Today’s CPL game in Nova Scotia against the HFX Wanderers at 10:30 a.m. PT is 5,832 kilometres away, making it the third-longest distance travelled in the world between soccer clubs in a domestic Premiership league.
There are 4,333 straight-line kilometres between Halifax and San Jose, where PFC will meet C.S. Herediano on Tuesday in the second leg of their CONCACAF League set. C.S. Herediano leads the Primera de Costa Rica, that country’s top league, and has contributed many players to Costa Rica’s FIFA World Cup teams.
But there is no looking ahead, insisted Merriman: “We focus on one match at a time and we are 100 per cent focused on being here in Halifax.”
PFC (10-4-5 in wins-losses-draws) carries a five-game league winning streak into the Wanderers Grounds today and hasn’t lost in league play since being stunned and embarrassed 3-0 at home against HFX on June 25 at Starlight Stadium. That game proved a watershed moment for the Tridents.
“We haven’t forgotten about that last game against HFX,” said Merriman.
“That was a turning point for us. We are a different team now than then.”
The Wanderers (6-11-3), meanwhile, have won only once in eight games since drubbing the Tridents at Starlight. That takes some of the threat away from their home-field advantage, which includes the biggest crowds in the CPL.
“They have great crowds [averaging a league-leading 5,933 fans per game] and it’s a great atmosphere but we embrace that and take energy from that, too.”
Merriman will need to decide how he uses his roster with two road games in four days spanning the Maritimes to Central America across two competitions.
Part of that who-to-rest and who-to-play process was made easier for the Tridents coaching staff with star striker Josh Heard already designated to miss today’s league game due to yellow-card accumulation.
That will leave him fresh for the key second leg of the CONCACAF League set on Tuesday in Costa Rica as Pacific FC will need to rally from its 1-0 deficit on aggregate following its wrenching late loss to C.S. Herediano this week at Starlight Stadium.
