Valour FC travel to the Island as the opponent for Pacific FC’s second home match to begin the season. There’s been lots of action at Starlight stadium already in mid-April with the Canadian Women’s national team playing there the day after Pacific’s home opener last weekend.
Will this match produce the kind of highlight goals and moments we’ve witnessed so far? If previous matches are any indication it very well could.
Trends and stats
The opening weekend of CPL action proved very eventful for both Valour and Pacific.
Pacific welcomed Forge FC to Starlight while Valour travelled to Edmonton and battled amongst the wind against a new-look FC Edmonton team.
After that excellent opening win against Forge, Pacific FC is looking to start the season with back-to-back wins at home and maintain its dominant all-time record against Valour.
The visitor’s, however, will want to bounce back after a last-second goal of the season-contender forced them to settle for a draw in their opening fixture.
History
This has been a very one-sided matchup to this point. Pacific has won nine out of the 11 previous meetings between the two clubs, with Valour’s lone victory coming during the inaugural season. That Valour victory came from the first time the clubs ever met up in 2019.
Even last season after Phillip Dos Santos took over as head coach for Valour, Pacific won 3-1 in Winnipeg and 3-2 at home. Heading into this match the win streak now sits at eight straight victories for Pacific.
Additionally, this matchup has always seen goals. The lowest scoring games have been 2-0 Pacific wins. Last season saw two games end 3-2 for Pacific and one end 3-1 for the Tridents.
PFC Quote
“It’s a process, we’ve got ideas that we’re trying to implement as a group, things that we continue to discuss. There’s a lot of areas that we want to continue to improve, so we’ll take the things that well for us last week and the areas that we want to continue to develop and grow and build off of. It’s very early in the season so there’s still a lot of work to do.” — James Merriman (h/t CanPL.ca)
Player to Watch
Pacific – Nathan Mavila; Valour – Andy Baquero
Two full-backs produced eye-catching performances during the CPL opening weekend. An impressive goal for Baquero and an all-around performance from Mavila set the table for a great duel down the flanks at Starlight.
Mavila’s debut was good enough to earn him a CanPL.ca Team of the Week appearance, and shows how comfortable the left-back is in Canada. After two seasons with Cavalry, Mavila’s return to the CPL looks like it’ll add plenty of defensive solidity and additional attacking output for the defending champs.
Similar to Mavila, Baquero started the season in good form and scored Valour first goal of the year in their 1-1 draw. Both Valour full-backs were key to the team’s ball progression against Edmonton and Baquero’s goal shows how comfortable the right-back is going forward and drifting inside.
The Story to This Point
Two main stories came out of the opening weekend: Pacific’s statement win (and statement jerseys) and Tobias Warschewski’s goal against Valour. This match provides Pacific the opportunity to keep the good vibes going at home while Valour now has a chance to change the narrative after their opening weekend struggles.
Keys to Victory
Unlike the home opener, Pacific will look to dominate possession and dictate the tempo at home. Merriman wants this team to be on the front foot, and while they’re able to set up in a mid-block and encourage the other team to break them down, they are more comfortable taking the game to their opponent. Pacific always scores goals against Valour and will be confident they can do so again. If the Tridents are able to control possession and break down a Valour defence led by Golden Glove winner Jonathan Sirois, they should collect another three points at home to begin the season.
News and Notes
Here’s what else you need to know before Sunday’s match:
- James Merriman still holds a 100% win record as the lead decision-making on the Pacific FC sideline. The Island-born coach won his first match as Pacific FC head coach last weekend and came away with a victory in two previous matches as a fill-in: once for Pa-Modou Kah last season and once in the final game of the 2019 season after Michael Silberbauer left the club.
- Amer Didic won the Canadian Premier League player of the week for his performance in his Pacific FC debut. The centre-back scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal from a towering header off a Marco Bustos free-kick and helped hold off Forge’s attack at the other end until the dying minutes.
- Members from Pacific FC have been taking part in Common Goal’s Play Proud project in Los Angeles over the past week. Pacific FC is one of nine soccer clubs taking part. Play Proud aims to engage football-based community organizations around the world to build LGBTQ+ inclusion. You can read more about this fantastic initiative by clicking on the link below.
Pacific FC v Valour FC by Jack Longo