Pacific FC’s dreams for 2023 were ground into the Spruce Meadows grass Saturday in Calgary. The Island professional soccer club was beaten 2-1 by host Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League playoff semifinal.
“We have a young team and there was a lot of pressure and it was a bit too high,” said PFC stalwart Thomas Meilleur-Giguère.
“It hurts but it’s part of the process,” added the veteran defender, who played for Canada in the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 championship and was selected for the Canada U-23 team for CONCACAF Tokyo Olympics qualifying.
“Being in the final was our objective and will be again next year as our team continues to grow.”
The result was sweet revenge for Cavalry FC, which lost in the 2021 semifinals to PFC in Calgary in extra time, as the Tridents went on to win the CPL championship against Forge FC in Hamilton.
“PFC is a good team. We buried a ghost of the past,” said Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
“We’re enjoying writing new history.”
Dutch import Daan Klomp and four-time Somalia-capped Ali Musse gave Cavalry the lead Saturday before former MLS player Kekuta Manneh brought the Tridents to within one.
“It’s massive … it’s a playoff win,” said winning-goal scorer Musse.
“We deserve to be in the final. There was a lot of work put into being where we are now.”
The final is next weekend in Hamilton against four-time CPL champion Forge FC, a club that has played in all five CPL championship games.
The CPL playoff champion earns a berth into the 2024 CONCACAF Champions League to join regular-season champion Cavalry FC. If the Calgary club also wins the playoff title, the regulations state that the regular-season runner-up gets the second CPL berth. That is Forge FC, so the Hamilton club has already clinched a berth into the CONCACAF Champions League next year, regardless of the result in the league final.
“We want to get to CONCACAF again [following 2021] and now we will look to 2025,” said PFC’s Meilleur-Giguère.
Fourth-seed PFC advanced to the semifinal after recording successive 1-0 victories over fifth-seed York United at Starlight Stadium in the first round of the post-season and over third-seed HFX Wanderers in the quarter-final at Halifax. But the playoff whirlwind finally caught up with the Tridents.
Meilleur-Giguère said the Tridents were buoyed Saturday by the group of fans who made the trek across the Rockies to support the team in the semifinal. But it was the large home crowd at Spruce Meadows that got to cheer loudest.
“Cavalry was the most consistent team near the end of the season,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
“We can take a lot of positives looking ahead as we continue to learn, improve and grow as a team.”
