Pacific FC heading to finals after 2-1 extra-time victory against Cavalry FC

Pacific FC is heading to the Canadian Premier League finals after an extra-time 2-1 win against Cavalry FC in Calgary Saturday.

It’s a first for the franchise and the latest achievement in a season which has included toppling a Major League Soccer team and posting its best record yet.

The Tridents opened the scoring at the 33-minute mark with Terran Campbell putting one past Cavalry keeper Marco Carducci. The goal-scoring play saw Josh Heard sending a cross in the Cavalry’s end where it was met with a well-placed header by Manuel Aparicio, sending the ball right to Campbell’s f00t in front of the net.

A minute into the second half, however, Cavalry hit back with Karifa Yao lining up on the end of a corner kick, putting one past Trident keeper Callum Irving to level the score 1-1.

During added injury time, the Tridents capitalized on a well-executed counter-attack which started in their defensive end and finished with Kunle Dada-Luke just barely keeping the ball from going out of play just to the side of Calvary’s net and slipping it past Carducci.

Thanks to Irving’s quick hands and some long reaches, Pacific FC managed to maintain their one-goal lead until the final whistle sounded, booking their ticket to the finals and defeating one of their fiercest rivals.

During their six regular-season meetings, Calgary had a slight advantage over the West Shore team. The Cavalry beat PFC three times – including a 1-0 victory on Nov. 7 – during the 2021 campaign. The Pacific took two of the six matches for an overall record of 2-3-1 against the Alberta team.

They now await the winner of the second semifinal between Forge FC and York United, set to be played Sunday. If Forge wins, they will host the 2021 Final on Sunday, December 5.

Pacific will host the final at Starlight Stadium Saturday, November 27 if York United is victorious.

READ: West Shore Wave: Pacific FC shoots past Cavalry FC to Canadian Championship semis