2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #77
Pacific FC vs. Atlético Ottawa
August 13, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. ET
Starlight Stadium in Langford, British Columbia
Watch Live: OneSoccer // Tickets available here

In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.

Week 18 in the Canadian Premier League wraps up this weekend on the west coast, where Atlético Ottawa head to Langford hoping to channel last season’s CPL semifinal performance against Pacific FC.

The Tridents return home to Vancouver Island after two weeks away, hoping to make the most of a home match which has become, in this second half of the season, a rare luxury. Including this one, Pacific have just four regular season games left at Starlight Stadium, with six of their next 10 being on the road (including four of their last five matches).

Pacific still sit alone atop the table though, having beaten Halifax Wanderers 2-1 on the road last Monday. Thomas Meilleur-Giguère and Josh Heard got on the scoresheet in that game as they took all three points from a Wanderers Ground that’s been somewhat of a fortress in recent weeks. Overall, the Tridents’ 9-5-4 record and plus-12 goal differential are best in the league, and they’ve now won two straight after a five-game winless skid.

James Merriman said most of his squad should be available for selection this week, though Kekuta Manneh and Pierre Lamothe — neither of whom travelled to Halifax — are day-to-day and could miss out on the 18.

Meanwhile, Ottawa find themselves in the heat of a battle for the final two playoff spots, level with both York United and Halifax Wanderers on 25 points. Tiebreakers have them above both sides and technically in fourth place, but that could change very quickly if things don’t go Atlético’s way this weekend. Still, considering how close things are across the board, a win would actually put them just four points behind Pacific and very much in contention for a place higher up the table.

Atleti claimed one point last Saturday on home turf, as they clawed back from behind twice to settle a 3-3 result against York United. Captain Carl Haworth was a hero with two sublime goals for the side, earning him the CPL’s Player of the Week nod, and Diego Espejo scored the 81st-minute equalizer — although the Spanish centre-back will be suspended this week after picking up a fourth yellow card. They’ll also be without a few other key defenders, as Carlos González revealed Miguel Acosta, Maxim Tissot and Aboubakary Sacko remain sidelined with injury in all likelihood.

Still, González restated his confidence on Friday that this side can still win the regular season championship like they did in 2022, citing how close they are to Pacific now, and how far away they were earlier in the season (as much as 15 points).

Drama and goals tend to flow when these two sides meet; they played at Starlight Stadium at the end of June, and both sides showed flashes of attacking quality in a thrilling 2-2 draw in which both sides had a lead. Ottawa and Pacific also met at TD Place earlier this year, when the Tridents avenged last season’s semifinal loss with a resounding 4-1 win in the nation’s capital.

Might this be another encounter where both sides open the attacking taps? It’ll be another entertaining affair at Starlight Stadium, where Pacific are celebrating their annual Pride night, hoping to cap off the festivities with three points.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Pacific midfield quietly humming along: The trio in the middle of Pacific’s lineup has rotated somewhat throughout the season, but this team has — perhaps quietly — developed one of the strongest midfields in the CPL. Sean Young is having a breakout season and Manny Aparicio is well known as one of the best creative players in the league, but Cédric Toussaint has flown under the radar somewhat as a true anchor in front of the defence. Toussaint, with the help of Young or sometimes Steffen Yeates, wins his duels and breaks up transitions, occupying spaces that allow Aparicio to get forward as well. Toussaint has missed just three league games this year, and Pacific haven’t won any of them — a small enough sample to be coincidence, but nonetheless the Tridents’ central trio has proven as solid as any other so far. “He’s very consistent in his workrate, in the ground that he covers, the duels he wins,” James Merriman said of Toussaint. “Without the ball as a six he’s becoming more clever tactically in his awareness of the spaces he needs to be in, he always shows up and makes it really difficult for teams to play through us.”

• Ottawa seek improved away form: Last season, Atlético Ottawa set a league record with 28 points away from home. This year, their home form has improved significantly and they’re currently unbeaten in six at TD Place, but their away record has fallen off significantly — averaging exactly one point per game on the road this year, after averaging two last season. “There are always reasons for things; mainly, during the first third of the season we were not as solid and competitive as we were last season and probably this is one of the main reasons that made us weaker on the road,” head coach Carlos González said. “The team is starting to give a better performance defensively — more solid, more compact, and an increase in the moments of competitiveness in the 90 minutes. I think this is a good way to start to improve these results on the road.”

• Gazdov reclaiming top job in goal? Pacific FC have given significant playing time to both goalkeepers in the senior squad, with Emil Gazdov the number one at the start of the year — playing the first six league matches — and Kieran Baskett taking over for the eight after that. It seems Baskett may not have been able to lock down the starter’s role in that time, though, as Gazdov has returned to start three of the last four, conceding just one goal in that stretch. It’s possible the 19-year-old keeper has been given a chance to stake a more permanent claim to the gloves, and the onus will now be on Gazdov to ensure James Merriman sticks with him down the homestretch of the season. “We came into the season knowing we had two young goalkeepers, Emil 19 and Kieran 21, and we felt they both had big potential,” Merriman said, adding: “We really take it match-to-match, week-to-week, day-to-day, how they’re performing, how they’re coping with different stresses, the pressure, the responsibility, how they’re handling a loss or a win, or starting or not starting. These are all really good development opportunities.”

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Pacific FC (4-3-3): Gazdov; Dada-Luke, Didic, Meilleur-Giguère, Vliet; Toussaint, Young, Aparicio; Sellouf, Ongaro, Heard

Atlético Ottawa (3-5-2): Ingham; Ouimette, Singh, Niba; Haworth, Bassett, Zapater, Iliadis, Assi; Salter, Del Campo

ALL-TIME SERIES

Pacific wins: 5 || Atlético Ottawa wins: 3 || Draws: 4

Last meeting:

June 30, 2023 – Pacific FC 2-2 Atlético Ottawa

KEY QUOTES

“There’s 10 matches left to achieve what we set out to do at the start of the season. The group’s incredibly focused, everyone’s motivated. We’ve taken strength and confidence out of the last few performances, getting back to some of the things we weren’t doing. We feel good coming into this stretch of games, whether it be home or away; I don’t think it’s going to change our approach right now.” — Pacific FC head coach James Merriman

“[Starlight Stadium] is a pitch that makes it tougher to create in organized situations, and maybe a little bit easier in transitions because there are less metres to get to the opponent’s net. But I think this is going to be a completely different game to the last two. We’re in a critical moment of the season, only 10 games left to play, so the details are going to be very, very important. I think both teams are going to focus as if it’s a final because it’s going to be decisive, every single point we play for.” — Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos González