The 2023 Canadian Premier League playoffs are upon us, and five teams have earned the right to battle for the North Star Cup. This season’s innovative new format gives each side a chance, but rewards regular season success with increasing benefits for higher places in the standings.

With the postseason kicking off on Oct. 11 and running to the end of the month, the team at CanPL.ca has put together comprehensive previews for each of the five playoff-bound clubs. To read the rest of them, click here.

Pacific FC – 4th place, 40 points

Record (W-D-L): 11-7-10
Goals For/Against: 42/35
Top Scorer: Ayman Sellouf (7)
Assists Leader: Ayman Sellouf (8)

Much like last year, it was a real season of inconsistency for the Tridents, now two seasons removed from winning the 2021 CPL title. They lost just once through the first twelve matches of the season, but then won only four of their remaining 16. In the end, they finished the regular season in the exact same position as they did last year, fourth, albeit with six fewer points than they collected in 2022.

A big part of Pacific’s drop-off over the second part of the season came from uncharacteristically poor form at Starlight Stadium. The Tridents collected just five wins and 19 points at home this season, the fewest in club history. They did, however, supplement that with a club-record 21 points away from home this season, which came courtesy of a league-record 26 road goals, the most a team has ever managed in a single season. Considering Pacific will spend the bulk of the playoffs on the road should they advance, that is worth noting.

Overall, it is a regular season that will leave Pacific frustrated and feeling that they should have finished better. The expected numbers certainly agree with this notion, as they scored 3.69 fewer goals than expected, while allowing 5.69 more than expected, the greatest variance between expected and actual goals conceded in the league. Those expected goals and goals against numbers were also both the best in the entire league.

How They Got Here

As aforementioned, Pacific FC came flying out of the gates this year, going 7-4-1 in their first twelve matches. That included a big 6-3 win over rivals Vancouver FC and 4-1 victories over both York United and Atlético Ottawa showing the kind of dynamic attacking football the Tridents played through the first few months of the season. They were equally capable of winning matches in different ways, however, as their other four victories during that stretch came from 1-0 results. All that combined to put them solidly at the top of the CPL table for a large portion of the 2023 season.

The summer months, however, weren’t quite as kind to the Tridents, who won just twice between July and August. A stretch late in the latter month in which they suffered their first-ever loss to rival Vancouver FC, before falling 1-0 to Cavalry well and truly saw them passed by the Cavs at the top of the table. The slide continued from there. The Tridents largely held on to second place before a 3-1 loss to Forge FC on September 23 at Tim Hortons Field saw them leapt in the table by the Hamilton side. Two subsequent losses, to Vancouver FC at home and Cavalry on the road, to conclude the season would see them slip all the way down to fourth place in the table.

3 Key Players

Amer Didić, Defender

One of the Canadian Premier League’s top defenders, Didić has been dominant at the back again this season for the Tridents.  He has won a league-leading 82 aerial duels, and an incredibly solid (68.55 per cent) of his overall duels. He is also a real threat from set pieces, with four goals this season.

Manny Aparicio, Midfielder

The heart of Pacific’s midfield and often the heart of this team, Manny Aparicio provides tireless class in the middle of the park for the Tridents. He had four goals and five assists this season, while also finishing fourth in the league in recoveries.

Ayman Sellouf, Attacker

The electrifying Pacific attacker combines creativity with a clinical ability to turn chances into goals for his side. When he is at his best he can take over a game all on his own, having tied with Cavalry’s Myer Bevan for most goal contributions this season (15), scoring seven and adding a league-leading eight assists. He also tied the league-lead for chances created, with 51.

What They’re Saying

“We were frustrated with the way that our season ended, so we can use that in a positive way, we can use this in a way to motivate ourselves for this match, and we know the journey, we’ve made it difficult on ourselves, but this is where we are and we need to take the opportunity that we have.”

— Pacific FC head coach James Merriman

“We know what we are capable of, we didn’t finish the way we wanted to, the way it looked like we could, especially at the beginning of the season. But we will obviously tap into our experience and the things we have already done as a club and as a team and just have to come together to pull this one through. Because it is one game at a time right now and that is the beauty of playoffs.” 

— Pacific FC midfielder Manny Aparicio

Pacific FC will win the North Star Cup if…

…they can finally be clinical in front of goal again. When the Tridents are at their very best, they play fluid attacking football. They scored the second most goals in the league this season, with 42 and led in most other offensive statistics, including expected goals (45.69), total big chances (69) and touches in the opposition box (731).

Unfortunately for the Tridents, much like other aspects of their game this season their attacking production has been incredibly up and down. A big reason for this has been the lack of a consistent scoring threat, especially at the number nine position. Djenairo Daniels, Adonijah Reid and Easton Ongaro all bring different qualities to the Pacific attack, but haven’t been productive enough this season in front of goal. Ongaro, one of the top goalscorers in league history, found the back of the net just five times this year, while Daniels and Reid had just three goals each. If one of them can find their scoring boots during the playoffs and be clinical on the large number of chances the Tridents produce, Pacific instantly become a real threat.

Their away record also makes them a dangerous opponent during the postseason, as the fourth vs. fifth match, should they win, would be the only playoff match they play at Starlight Stadium. They do, however, also need to be better defensively than they have been of late on the road as only York and Vancouver allowed more goals (21) than Pacific (20) away from home this season.