The 2024 Canadian Championship tournament for the Voyageurs Cup has provided more hairpin turns than a Formula 1 circuit.
It continued Tuesday with a morning match-up in which CF Montreal of Major League Soccer needed a second-half goal to salvage a 1-1 draw in the opening game of its second-round set against Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League before 14,923 fans on school students day at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.
The Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS were in Calgary to play Cavalry FC of the CPL on Tuesday night, a club they have lost to before in cup play.
CS Saint-Laurent of Ligue1 Quebec, which upset Halifax of the CPL in the first round, now moves two levels up to play Toronto FC of MLS in the first game of their second-round set tonight.
Island-based Pacific FC is in the only second-round match-up featuring teams from the same league as they play Atletico Ottawa today at 4 p.m. PT at TD Place Stadium in the nation’s capital with the second game of the two-legged set May 29 at Starlight Stadium. PFC needed a goal at the death in injury time and seven rounds of penalty kicks to get past the TSS Rovers of League1 B.C. in the one-game first round just to be in Ottawa tonight.
“It could have been over that night [against TSS at Starlight Stadium],” admits PFC head coach James Merriman.
“In cup football there’s always the fairy-tale stories and cupsets [as cup upsets are known]. This is normal in other parts of the world in football and now we’re starting to see that. It is helping to grow a football culture in Canada.”
No teams seem safe or immune regardless of their level in the hierarchy.
“League1 is growing and developing. The CPL continues to grow and develop. And we’re all fighting,” said Merriman, who was PFC assistant coach when the Tridents upset the Whitecaps of MLS in the 2021 cup quarter-finals.
“League1 has come in and had two really competitive matches this year, TSS with us and Saint Laurent with Halifax, and then you saw the Forge and Montreal game. It’s not a surprise to me because all the pressure can be on one side. That’s the human part of it. This is cup football. This is what fans want and what builds the culture of our game. It’s important that people are starting to see it and understanding it. It’s been a really exciting tournament and there’s a lot left. It’s only going to continue to grow.”
The Tridents will be playing at level today against CPL-rival Ottawa but it’s a top-flight match-up against two undefeated teams at the top of the table. PFC and Ottawa each have three wins and a draw in league play and four wins and a draw overall.
Ottawa, which demolished Valour FC of Winnipeg 7-0 in its all-CPL first round match-up, features two former PFC mainstays in midfielder Manny Aparicio and Amer Didic.
“That was a big story of the off-season. There will be some emotions, for sure,” said Merriman.
“But we have a great locker-room and it’s a new season.”
CORNER KICKS: One was established in 1848 and has a long history in one of the great soccer nations while the other was formed in 2019 with a far more recent pedigree in a fledgling soccer country. PFC has announced a partnership with VfL Bochum of the Bundesliga that will include potential for player transfers, player and coach development, business and youth programming.
“This partnership breaks new ground and will further close the gap from Canada to one of the best footballing nations in the world,” said PFC president Josh Simpson, the Victoria product who played in the Bundesliga and was capped 43 times for Canada.
“We are proud to build this bridge to VfL Bochum for our players as well as our operating staff,” added Simpson, in a statement.
