Teams from opposite sides of the country met in the middle Tuesday in Winnipeg and, perhaps fittingly in terms of symbolic balance, played to a scoreless Canadian Premier League draw.
Vancouver Island-based Pacific FC (3-1-2) and the HFX Wanderers of Halifax (1-2-2) represent among the longest kilometre distances between domestic Premier league soccer teams anywhere in the world.
鈥淲e did not come out of the gate well today,鈥� said PFC head coach Pa-Modou Kah.
鈥淏ut we still had opportunities. They had their chances and we had our chances.鈥�
It was the third consecutive clean sheet for PFC goalkeeper Callum Irving.
鈥淲e鈥檙e having fun as a backline,鈥� said stalwart PFC defender Lukas MacNaughton.
鈥淏ut we鈥檙e disappointed because we were expecting better from ourselves today. It was a tough one. They put us under pressure for the first 10 minutes and got us off our game. But we came away with a point so there were some positives out of it.鈥�
Kah made an telling point about the development of his team by noting this is exactly the type of game PFC would have lost in previous seasons with one crucial mistake and a late opposition goal allowed.
鈥淲e are growing,鈥� he said.
PFC鈥檚 best scoring chance came through an Ollie Bassett break that the former Northern Ireland U-19 international couldn鈥檛 convert.
鈥淗e [Bassett] would tell you he didn鈥檛 make the most of it,鈥� said HFX goalkeeper Chris Oxner.
鈥淚 definitely got a bit lucky.鈥�
But Oxner liked the overall structure of his team that resulted in the clean sheet for himself.
鈥淥ur full team defends so well,鈥� he said.
鈥淓veryone works hard defensively. It makes it easy for me most games.鈥�
PFC meets two-time defending CPL champion Forge FC (2-3) of Hamilton, Ont., on Saturday. It will be PFC鈥檚 seventh of eight games in the Winnipeg bubble at IG Stadium. The return-to-normal portion of the season begins July 30 at Starlight Stadium in Langford.
