The battle to be the best in the Canadian Premier League reached a sort of critical juncture Thursday night at Starlight Stadium as Pacific FC defeated Cavalry FC of Calgary 3-1.
Island-based PFC (10-3-4) moved three points ahead of Cavalry (9-4-4) atop the 颅Canadian Premier League table. At stake will be home-field advantage throughout the playoffs in the fall.
PFC had the run of play until Cavalry鈥檚 against-the-grain goal, on a laser from outside the box at 32 minutes by Sergio Camargo, jolted the home side. Terran Campbell answered just before the break, in the first minute of injury time, by 颅putting in a rebound on his back with a reverse bicycle kick. Former Northern Ireland U-19 player Ollie Bassett, a buzzsaw all night, put PFC ahead at 66 minutes with the winner. Former Toronto FC MLS prospect Manny Aparicio put it away with a world-class shot 89 minutes that curled in off the post to electrify the crowd of 2,351.
鈥淚t鈥檚 what you get when you get the clash of the two top teams,鈥� said PFC head coach 颅Pa-Modou Kah.
He pointed to Campbell鈥檚 goal before the break as being key.
鈥淲e gave away a goal out of nothing. But then we got it back right before the break, which is always crucial,鈥� said Kah.
The second half was all-out assault.
鈥淲e told the boys in the second half to be more brave and to trust their qualities more and go for the daggers,鈥� said Kah.
鈥淭he win was based upon the will to go forward rather than be safe.鈥�
PFC did a tight job of holding in check Joe Mason, a former Ireland U-21 international who has played for Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City, Bolton Wanderers and Wolverhampton Wanderers. The veteran import has six goals in 10 games since joining Cavalry FC, including both in the 2-1 victory for the Calgary club in their previous visit to Starlight Stadium.
鈥淭he best team won tonight,鈥� said Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
鈥淧FC was clinical and a step ahead of us all night.鈥�
PFC leads the season series 2-1-1 while Cavalry FC leads the all-time series 6-3-2. The teams will meet again in the Canadian Championship quarter-finals on Sept. 22 in Calgary after Cavalry beat FC Edmonton of the CPL and PFC stunned the Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS in opening-round provincial derbies.
PFC is at Edmonton on Sept. 14 and home to Atletico Ottawa on Sept. 19.
Both teams were missing key performers, PFC captain Jamar Dixon and crafty Cavalry 颅veteran Mo Farsi 鈥� to one-game red card suspensions. PFC dynamo Marco Bustos missed his fifth consecutive game to a lower-body injury.
CORNER KICKS: Pacific FC has received, on loan from the Whitecaps of MLS, 6-foot-2 goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer for the remainder of the season. The 19-year-old is from Okanagan Falls and was signed to a first-team contract by the Whitecaps in August of 2020 after coming through the MLS club鈥檚 youth system.
