To say that Pacific FC has made it hard on itself is the understatement of the Canadian Premier League soccer season.
The Tridents survived a first-round playoff game on a season-saving goal in injury time late Wednesday night by former sa国际传媒 U-20 player Adonijah Reid against fifth-seed York United at Starlight Stadium. It was a game PFC never imagined it would have to play after being at or near the top of the table for much of the regular season before falling to the fourth seed following a late swoon.
The Tridents then had to catch a ferry on Thursday morning and a flight from Vancouver. Because of delays, they were still in Toronto on Friday morning awaiting their connection to Halifax, arriving in the Nova Scotia capital late on Friday night, in what is the third-longest distance to travel in the world between Premiership soccer clubs.
Awaiting in the CPL quarter-final today at 11 a.m. PT will be the well-rested third-seed HFX Wanderers and an energized capacity crowd — HFX has the best and most passionate fans in the league — for the first playoff home game in Wanderers history.
“We’ve made it difficult but I don’t think anybody expected it to be this difficult in terms of the logistics,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
“There’s not been any time for recovery. We accept it. We have to get on with it. There’s nothing we can do about it. We’ll be ready when the whistle blows [because] we have to be.”
The winner between PFC and HFX in the Page playoff system will advance to the semifinal next Saturday at either regular-season champion Cavalry FC or second-place Forge FC.
Cavalry FC and Forge are meeting today in the 1-2 playoff in Calgary with the winner advancing to the CPL final in two weeks and the loser to host the semifinal next week against the winner of the PFC-HFX quarter-final.
“This is not easy. It’s a very difficult situation for our players,” said Merriman, about the short turnaround and nation-wide travel to the quarter-final.
“It’s 100 per cent mentality to accept the challenge. They [players] can channel that toward the match and that’s what we need to do. Halifax has a great atmosphere and a great environment and their fans will be celebrating the playoff match. We have a strong group and guys who will take on this challenge.”
Merriman noted the Tridents entered the post-season on the back foot with three consecutive regular-season losses before the dramatic playoff victory Wednesday.
“We’ve been challenged in the last part of the season but still have great spirit and our team is very close,” said the PFC gaffer.
“And this is when we need to come together, when you’re challenged and going against adversity like this, with this schedule and going into this atmosphere with their crowd. We’re not just going there to play the match. We are there to win. The pressure has to be on them in front of their home crowd. We’re going to use that to mix it up and put pressure on them.”
The CPL playoff champion will earn a berth into the 2024 CONCACAF Champions League to join regular-season champion Cavalry FC. If the Calgary club also wins the playoff title, regular-season runner-up Forge FC of Hamilton will get the second CPL berth into the Champions League.
