The CPL champions got the better of the league’s first-place team on Saturday night, as Forge FC took down Pacific FC, 2-1, at Tim Hortons Field to complete the day’s tripleheader of matches. After scoring very early, Forge ultimately would have to wait until the late stages of the second half to pull back in front thanks to Pacific’s equalizer not long before halftime.

The notable team news for Forge heading into this was was Emery Welshman making his first start since returning to the club earlier this month. He lined up along with Mo Babouli and Tristan Borges in a lineup full of attacking firepower for Bobby Smyrniotis’ side. Pacific, meanwhile, kept fairly consistent with recent outings, although fullback Kadin Chung slotted in on the left side with Kunle Dada-Luke coming in to play on the right.

The home side wasted no time in getting the scoring started, with a couple excellent chances in the first few moments culminating in an opening goal in the 6th minute, as Borges picked out Babouli with a glorious long ball and Babouli settled the pass before a very well-placed strike beat Callum Irving to make it 1-0.

Forge had a handful of other dangerous opportunities after that, with one in particular drawing an excellent save by Irving as Welshman found himself facing the ‘keeper alone in the box. However, Pacific were not without chances of their own: Terran Campbell nearly equalized after a good setup from Manny Aparicio, but he was denied by a well-timed block from Kwame Awuah.

The Tridents would indeed draw level before halftime, though: Blazing down the right flank, Dada-Luke sent a perfectly-placed cross right to the head of Alejandro Diaz, who finished the chance with tremendous power and accuracy from the header.

With neither side being able to much threaten the other in the stretch after halftime, Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis made some major changes to his lineup, swapping out three of his attacking players to bring in Josh Navarro, Woobens Pacius, and Omar Browne — the latter making his debut for the club.

Smyrniotis was, eventually, rewarded for the changes; just before the 80-minute mark, Alex Achinioti-Jonsson made a surging run with the ball through lines of Pacific defence into the box and cut toward goal, making an excellent pass across the goalmouth to an unmarked Browne, who got to the ball before any defender and buried his first goal for Forge.

Pacific made a valiant effort to equalize once again — Victor Blasco very nearly succeeded in doing so just four minutes after the Forge goal, with a shot from inside the box forcing Triston Henry to make an excellent diving save — but they ultimately weren’t successful in securing a point.

With the valuable home win over the league’s top side right now, Forge improved to 10-1-7, and with 31 points they’re now just one back of second-place Cavalry FC as they hunt for home field advantage in the playoffs. Pacific remain in first place, but they’ll be feeling a little pressure with this loss coming after two straight draws.

BOX SCORE

Goals

6′ — Mo Babouli (Forge FC)
37′ — Alejandro Diaz (Pacific FC)
80′ — Omar Browne (Forge FC)

Discipline

76′ — Yellow: Kyle Bekker (Forge FC)
83′ — Yellow: Daniel Krutzen (Forge FC)
90+2′ — Yellow: Lukas MacNaughton (Pacific FC)
90+3′ — Yellow: Woobens Pacius (Forge FC)