Rivalries, natural and otherwise, have grown in the Canadian Premier League. As is inevitable, once any league gets into its fourth season, as history accumulates with every new kick of the soccer ball.
The coast-to-coast fixtures between Island-based Pacific FC and HFX Wanderers of Halifax have a certain coastal cachet because of the vast distance between the national bookend maritime regions.
PFC and Forge FC became a rivalry once the defending 2021 CPL champion Tridents supplanted the 2019 and 2020 champion Hammers as league kingpins. Even the Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer will be looking forward to any chance of another cross-strait battle to put right PFC’s shock upset over the Caps in last year’s Canadian Championship.
But the rivalry which has topped all others for PFC over three years has been the cross-Rockies duel against Cavalry FC of Calgary. The upset over the Whitecaps would have meant little if PFC hadn’t gone on to beat Cavalry FC in the next round to advance to the Canadian Championship semifinals against Toronto FC of MLS.
And who can forget the CPL semifinal, when, in extra time, Kunle Dada-Luke got to the ball as it appeared to be rolling over the goal line, and banked it in off disbelieving Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci to send the Tridents to the 2021 CPL championship game against Forge FC.
The Tridents and Cavalry FC renew acquaintances today in Calgary at 2:30 p.m. PT in their first meeting of the 2022 season.
“Cavalry came into the league as a leading organization and made an immediate impact and set the standard along with Forge FC,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
“They were where we wanted to be – a top team in the league.”
The Tridents reached that goal, and then some, getting to hoist the North Star Shield CPL championship trophy before Cavalry FC.
PFC is off to an undefeated start at the top of the table with three wins and a draw.
In an uncharacteristic position at the foot of the table, Cavalry FC is winless with two losses and a draw, all on the road. But Merriman remains wary as the Calgary club looks to make its home debut in front its own fans at ATCO Field: “[Today] will be a good challenge, a good measure for us. They are not happy with their results, but it’s early and they have a good team.”
The Dada-Luke goal from last year’s semifinal, on the same field, looms large over the match.
“What a great home opener it is for us because they [PFC] were the ones that took away our chance to go to the final last year on our home pitch,” Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr., told CanPL.ca.
“There’s a bit of payback for us, and the lads know that and they are ready for it.”
The venue is expected to be full and Wheeldon described the emotion generated from that to be “infectious” for his club.
The Cavs will be looking to blunt the Island club’s front-foot approach, led by the likes of attacking midfielder Manny Aparicio, who Merriman describes as “box to box, the best midfielder in the league, a player who creates chances and takes chances.”
Marco Bustos, Josh Heard and Alejandro Diaz give the Tridents a multi-headed hydra up front. Add to the mix teenage striker Kamron Habibullah, on loan to PFC from the Whitecaps. Habibullah made his first start for the Tridents in Wednesday’s scoreless draw in Edmonton in his return from the recent Team Canada acclimatization camp in Costa Rica in preparation for the CONCACAF Under-20 championship in Honduras next month.
“I thought Kamron did well in his first start, and that gives us another option up front,” said Merriman.
PFC’s defenders have also been nimble and quick to the ball in the young season.
PFC concludes its three-game road trip next Saturday against Atletico Ottawa before returning to face FC Edmonton on May 14 at Starlight Stadium.
