Pacific FC will have a shot at redemption against a rival on Saturday (Oct. 21) as it looks to advance to its second Canadian Premier League final in three years.
The Langford-based team will face the hometeam Calgary Cavalry in Saturday’s semifinal. The winner goes on to play the Hamilton Forge in the CPL championship match, where a chance to hoist the North Star Cup and a spot in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup will be on the line.
When PFC steps onto Calgary’s ATCO Field on Saturday, it will mark two weeks from when the Cavalry blanked the Island team 3-0 in that same spot. The Pacific’s best finish in four regular-season contests against Calgary was a 1-1 tie.
Two straight playoff wins for PFC and the higher-seeded Calgary’s loss to Hamilton have set up a rematch of the 2021 semifinal, thanks to the league’s new postseason format.
A watch party at JR Slims has sold out, but Greater Victoria fans wanting to cheer on the Tridents alongside others sporting the PFC purple can do so at Darcy’s Pub Westshore and the Sticky Wicket. Both of those locations will show the game, which begins at 1 p.m. Pacific time.
It was also announced on Friday that Pacific FC’s Manny Aparicio has made the five-player shortlist for the Canadian Premier League’s player of the year. The winner will be revealed on Oct. 26 as part of the weekend festivities for the CPL Final.
The 28-year-old has donned the captain’s armband for the Tridents multiple times throughout the season and the team was winless in the four matches he missed.
Aparicio’s four goals and five assists made him one of PFC’s top scorers, while on the other side of the ball he had 49 tackles and 21 interceptions. Aparicio also led his team with 55 shots and 15 shots on target and finished second on PFC with 133 duels won.
The Pacific said Friday that Aparicio was a game-changer in the midfield all season long as he often covered more ground than any other player on the pitch, led the team’s press off the ball and pushed the team forward in attack.
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