With a lot of new faces in the squad, yesterday’s friendly match against the University of Victoria gave both the PFC staff and supporters their first look at how the team is gelling early in preseason.
Every member of PFC’s 2023 roster who saw the pitch got at least 45 minutes of action in their first bit of live match play in 2o23, and the result was a solid 3-0 win over their hosts at Centennial Stadium.
All three goals came in the first half with Manny Aparicio, Josh Heard, and Cedric Toussaint getting one each.
Recap
The first half saw Pacific control possession and move the ball well as a team. It was the right-sided combinations between Heard, Aparicio, Young, and Georges Mukumbilwa that were especially profitable for the Tridents going forward early on.
Notable as well was the trickery of new signing Ayman Sellouf on the left wing, the hold up play from Djenairo Daniels up top, and the communication at the back from Thomas Meilleur-Giguere.
The team made almost a full lineup change at the break with just a couple players playing a full 90 minutes.
Although the Tridents weren’t able to find the back of the net in the second half, new signings Adonijah Reid, Pierre Lamothe, and Steffen Yeates stood out for how they performed in their respective roles. Reid played through the middle and got into dangerous positions multiple times, while Lamothe and Yeates covered plenty of ground in the centre of the park and showed their ability to both burst forward and join the attack as well as the composure to maintain possession in midfield.
All told, there were many positives for James Merriman and his team to take from the first piece of match action this preseason: the new signings fit in seamlessly and the returning players showed little-to-no signs of rust as preseason starts to ramp up even more.
Additionally, it was fantastic to see so many PFC fans in attendance for this open-to-the-public friendly. The excitement is really starting to build for the 2023 Canadian Premier League season both in the team and in the community.
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