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CLEVE DHEENSAW
Times Colonist
Pacific FC head coach Pa-Modou Kah labels today’s fixture against FC Edmonton “the biggest game in club history.”
That’s not an over-dramatization.
It has come down to a starkly simple scenario for the Island club: Win and you’re in. A victory for PFC (2-2-2) against last-place and eliminated FC Edmonton (0-5-1) will guarantee a spot for the Tridents in the top four and advancement to the Canadian Premier League playoff stage. A tie or loss would eliminate PFC. The game will be broadcast on CHEK-TV beginning at 11:30 a.m.
“You always want to keep destiny in your own hand, with no one else to rely on but yourself,” said Kah.
There was the chance of a mind-twisting, multiple-team tie-breaking scenario in the CPL tournament taking place amid a pandemic bubble in Charlottetown, P.E.I. But that won’t happen, thanks to other results Saturday. If PFC was looking for clarity, it got it. What was the potential of needing to win by a large margin, in case of tie-breakers such as goal differential and goals scored, has suddenly become uncluttered. There will be no need to scoreboard watch other games. The only scoreboard that matters for PFC is the one in their own game against FC Edmonton.
“There is no better way to go into a game. There is nothing else to focus on or think about except winning,” said Kah.
“Our players know what they need to do. Nobody has to tell them.”
They know the stakes.
“This is a chance for the players to cement their legacy with PFC,” said Kah.
The club missed the playoffs during the 2019 inaugural CPL season.
FC Edmonton may be winless, and at the foot of the table, but the plucky Eddies have not been blown out in any of the games and have hung tough with only a play here and there denying them a better fate.
“You have to go out there and play 90-95 minutes. It doesn’t matter what the standings say,” warned Kah.
“You respect every opponent. But no matter who we play, our focus is always on ourselves and what we need to do.”
Cavalry FC of Calgary and Forge FC of Hamilton clinched two of the four playoff-round berths after results Saturday in Charlottetown. Defending-champion Forge eliminated Valour FC of Winnipeg in a 2-2 draw. Marcus Haber, the 27-time Canada-capped former PFC striker, saw Cavalry through with the lone goal in the key 1-0 victory over York9. A draw in that game could have caused a three-way tie in the standings between Cavalry, York and PFC and possibly even a four-way knot with Atletico Ottawa included. But that was avoided by Haber’s goal on the whiplash final weekend of the first round.
The HFX Wanderers of Halifax and Ottawa meet in this morning’s first game. A win by either team will guarantee passage to the next round. A draw will eliminate Ottawa and send HFX into a tie-breaking formula against York9.
The winner of the CPL playoff round will advance to meet the top Canadian team from Major League Soccer for the Canadian Championship, this nation’s FA Cup-type title. The Vancouver Whitecaps, Montreal Impact and Toronto FC are currently playing in a Canada-only MLS tournament to decide who will advance against the CPL champion.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com