Pacific FC tie Cavalry FC 3-3 in barnstormer

Six goals, two red cards and one point apiece for both teams as Pacific FC and Cavalry FC played out a barnstorming 3-3 tie at Starlight Stadium Thursday (June 30).

The two teams have had contrasting fortunes the past few weeks, with Cavalry taking PFC’s spot atop the Canadian Premier League while PFC has dropped down to third.

But the home team looked keen to arrest that slide and got off to a strong start. Djenairo Daniels’s pressing has become a common sight when he’s on the field this season, and it paid dividends early on as he put in a hard tackle on Cavalry centreback Karifa Yao, leaving him one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Daniels calmly slotted his shot past the keeper to score his first goal for PFC and give his team a 1-0 lead.

His joy was short-lived however as Daniels was forced off the field with an injury, with Manny Aparicio taking to the field for the first time since his injury against York United on May 20. But Aparicio’s return lasted less than 10 minutes. Perhaps angered by Daniel’s injury and a tough challenge by David Norman Jr., Aparicio got into a shoving match with the Cavalry man, which resulted in both being sent off.

The testy atmosphere didn’t spoil the show though, as first Gianni dos Santos for PFC and then Daan Klomp for Cavalry scored headers to make the score 2-1 at half-time.

The second half started with similar frenetic energy but not in PFC’s favour, who appeared to have let the game slip as Cavalry broke out and scored two goals at 50 and 56 minutes.

Down 3-2, PFC was staring down the barrel with what would have been their fourth loss in five games. But Mr. Dependable Alejandro Diaz came to the rescue with a header from a flighted ball into the box on 74 minutes, scoring his seventh goal of the season, a league high.

Both teams continued to push for a winner but couldn’t find one, with the game ending 3-3.

The point leaves PFC in third place with 20 points.

READ MORE: Pacific FC’s form continues to slide in loss to Halifax