Pacific FC fell 2-1 to BC rivals Vancouver FC on Thursday night and dropped to fifth place in the table with this result, losing in back-to-back games for only the second time this season.

To start the game, Josh Heard had the first good chance of the game for Pacific in the 6th minute, as the ball bounced up nicely for him at the edge of the box, but his dipping volley narrowly missed the target. Then, in the 18th minute, Pacific’s Reon Moore did well to set up Steffen Yeates for a powerful shot at the edge of the box, but he too would send his attempt over the goal.

Right after that Yeates chance, however, Pacific found a glorious chance to open the scoring. After Heard did well to sneak in behind Vancouver’s defence, he found an open Moore with a perfect low cross towards the penalty spot, but Moore was unable to keep his side-footed attempt on target despite his close proximity to Vancouver’s net.

After that, however, the game ended up quieting down a bit, as both teams settled into a rhythm. As a result, the next chance didn’t come until the 35th minute, when Pacific’s Cédric Toussaint cut inside and fired a strike, one that Vancouver’s goalkeeper, Callum Irving, would easily catch.

Having knocked on the door for most of the half, Pacific’s pressure would finally pay off in the 38th minute, though. After a perfect corner from Yeates, who sent a dangerous ball in towards the near post, Pacific’s Thomas Meilleur-Giguère managed to meet it with a thumping header, sending the ball into the net with power to give his team a crucial 1-0 lead.

That lead wouldn’t last long, however. Nearly immediately after conceding, Vancouver put their tails up and fashioned together a dangerous attack, as Mikaël Cantave found Alejandro Díaz at the back post with a perfect cross, and Díaz made no mistake with his header to tie the game up at 1-1 in the 40th minute.

Eager to regain their lead before half time, Pacific came close to doing so in the 43rd minute, as Pierre Lamothe fired a dangerous strike towards Irving’s goal from the edge of the box, nearly troubling the goalkeeper with a shot that just sailed over the crossbar.

On the other side of half time, Vancouver came out strongly as they looked to build off their opener, and did well to nearly find it in the 49th minute, as Paris Gee fired a dangerous shot from distance that nearly found the target.

At the other end, however, Pacific continued to push, and nearly had a big breakthrough in the 55th minute.

After a nice run into the box by Heard, he was taken down by Vancouver’s Allan Enyou, winning his side a penalty, one that Sean Young stepped up to take. Yet, despite having scored a composed penalty for Pacific earlier this month, Young would be unable to convert, as Irving denied him with a superb stop to keep the score at 1-1.

A few minutes later, Pacific came close to scoring once again, as Kunle Dada-Luke found Reon Moore with a dangerous cross into the box, but he’d send his header right at Irving in the Vancouver goal.

Having done well to absorb that Pacific pressure, Vancouver managed to then find a breakthrough at the other end in the 82nd minute. After a dangerous ball into the box from Kadin Chung towards Elage Bah, Bah managed to spin inside and fire a dangerous half-volley on his left foot, slamming the ball into the bottom left corner to give his team the lead.

Brimming with confidence after his well-taken goal, Bah nearly stunned the Pacific fans with another beauty in the 85th minute, as he managed to fire another dangerous half-volley from the edge of the box, this time on his right foot, striking the post with his attempt. Then, looking to put the game away, Gabriel Bitar fired a dangerous shot from a similar area to Bah just minutes later, and he nearly found the net with a stunner, just sending his shot past the top corner.

Continuing their late flurry of chances, Renan Garcia had the chance to step up to a free kick in the 90th minute, and he fired a dangerous shot towards goal, forcing a difficult catch out of Pacific’s Daniel Zadravec in goal.

Looking to get something out of the match, though, Pacific’s Dario Zanatta had a good look at goal deep in extra time, cutting inside and firing a dangerous shot, but his shot would be easily saved by Irving.

From there, Vancouver did what they needed to do in order to hold onto their result, allowing them to pick up a crucial three points in the race for the CPL playoffs, while also continuing their strong run of form against their rivals at the same time.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Pacific FC: Zadravec; Dada-Luke (Mukumbilwa 86′), Quintana, Meilleur-Giguère, Lajeunesse; Lamothe (Zanatta 86′), Young, Toussaint (Sellouf 65′); Yeates; Moore, Heard (Tîrcoveanu 87′)

Vancouver FC: Irving; Chung, Romeo, Enyou, Gee; Fry, Garcia; Fisk (Bitar 63′), Cantave (Bah 70′); Díaz (Norman Jr. 87′), Dyer (Dzikowski 63′)

Goals

38′ — Thomas Meilleur-Giguère (Pacific FC)

40′ — Alejandro Díaz (Vancouver FC)

82′ — Elage Bah (Vancouver FC)

Discipline

4′ — Yellow: Rocco Romeo (Vancouver FC)

75′ — Yellow: Paris Gee (Vancouver FC)

90′ — Yellow: Sean Young (Pacific FC)