In their first-ever home playoff match, York United claimed their first-ever playoff victory, 2-0 over Pacific FC on Wednesday.
In front of a fantastic atmosphere at York Lions Stadium, the Canadian Premier League’s 4th vs. 5th match was decided by goals from York’s Oswaldo León early in the second half and Mo Babouli in stoppage time to put the game to bed.
The Nine Stripes now advance to take on Ontario rivals Atlético Ottawa on Sunday, Oct. 27 at TD Place in the quarter-final. For Pacific FC, meanwhile, their season has ended.
Pacific FC looked the more dangerous side through the early stages, with a number of threatening balls played into the York box. Those chances largely resulted from a strong press as the hosts tried to play out of the back.
They had an excellent chance to open the scoring in the 12th minute, as Moses Dyer broke in behind the Nine Stripes line after getting on the end of a lovely ball over the top from Juan Quintana. But Thomas Vincensini came out of his net and made himself big, denying the Pacific striker.
The hosts, meanwhile, struggled to move the ball through the centre of the park, as Pacific did a good job of closing down spaces any time they got near the final third. Both of their attempted shots through the first 40 minutes were from well outside the Tridents’ box.
Neither side was really able to find much in the way of attacking opportunities as the half wore on, with Dyer’s opportunity the lone shot on target during the opening half. The sides remained deadlocked at 0-0 heading into the dressing rooms.
Minutes into the second half, however, York United found the opener. The second phase of a free kick wasn’t cleared by the Tridents, and the ball dropped into the path of León, whose powerful header gave the Nine Stripes a 1-0 lead.
The goal visibly emboldened the hosts and just a few minutes later Córdova nearly scored a wondergoal himself, after bringing down a cross, beating his man and firing the ball off the post.
Having grabbed a comeback victory just 13 days ago against York at this very stadium, however, Pacific quickly got to work to get back into the match. They had some excellent chances to equalize, including when Dario Zanatta was played in by a beautiful Dyer backheel, but his shot was blocked.
Not long thereafter, Sean Young had a dangerous long strike that sailed just wide of Thomas Vincensini’s net.
For York, Córdova continued to be a handful, forcing a good save from Melvin on a long strike in the 76th minute. With Pacific pressing, the Nine Stripes continued to create chances off of the counter-attack, with substitute Shola Jimoh forcing another save from Melvin moments later.
In the 81st minute, Pacific FC thought they had equalized, only to see the offside flag raised. Reon Moore’s initial strike deflected off of Córdova and into the path of Zanatta, but he was ruled to be behind the York line.
In the match’s dying moments, York captain Babouli put the match to bed. Santiago Márquez was first to a deflected ball in the midfield, and poked it over the top into the path of the York captain, who made no mistake smashing the ball into the back of the net.
As the final whistle sounded, in their third time of asking, York United had finally picked up their first playoff victory. They had also reversed the result of last season’s 4th vs. 5th match, where it was the Tridents who emerged victorious.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
York United: Vincensini; Higgins, Sturing, León; Córdova, Adekugbe, Baldisimo (Martínez 60′), Kibato (Márquez 73′), Botello; Babouli, Salanović (Jimoh 73′)
Pacific FC: Melvin; Dada-Luke, Quintana, Meilleur-Giguère, Greco-Taylor; Young, Yeates (Bahous 83′), Reid (Heard 63′); Moore, Zanatta, Dyer
Goals
47′ — Oswaldo León (York United)
90+2′ — Mo Babouli (York United)
Discipline
40′ — Yellow: Juan Córdova (York United)
43′ — Yellow: Dennis Salanović (York United)
64′ — Yellow: Dario Zanatta (Pacific FC)