| Final Score: Atlético Ottawa 2-0 Pacific FC Goalscorers: Tabla 76', Coulanges 81' Game of the 2025 season: 88 CPL Match: 683 |
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Match in a minute or less
It took 76 minutes for Atlético Ottawa to beat Pacific FC goalkeeper Sean Melvin at TD Place on Saturday night, but in the end they scored twice to picked up three massive points in a largely one-sided game in the capital.
After a scoreless first half, Atlético Ottawa were started to look a bit frustrated by their clear dominance not leading to a goal. Sam Salter and Ballou Tabla were among the players to miss the target from close range in a first half where they outshot the visitors 6-2, and in the second half they cranked their dominance up a few notches to find two important goals and pick up a deserved victory.
Tabla finally opened the scoring in the 76th minute, rounding Melvin and slotting the ball into the empty net after a pass from David Rodriguez sent him alone in on goal. Joaquim Coulanges doubled the lead five minutes later, first to pounce on a rebound to put the bow on the win.
In the end, Ottawa outshot Pacific 23-3 over the 90 minutes, and 10-0 in shots for target, on a night where they never looked like losing.
Three Observations
Ottawa dominate first half, but had to wait for their breakthrough
If at first you don't suceed, try, try again...and again and again and again if that's what it takes to find the back of the net against a goalkeeper who is playing as well as Sean Melvin was on Saturday night.
Ottawa had 64 per cent possession of the football in the first half, and a lot of that was spent passing the ball around Pacific's half looking for opportunities to score. They had six of them, but Golden Boot leader, and new single-season goal record holder, Sam Salter uncharacteristically headed the ball wide after being left alone in the penalty area, and Ballou Tabla sent two shots wide of the mark -- one of which a player of his quality would have been expected to tuck past the goalkeeper for the opening goal.
David Rodriguez had a shot saved by Melvin, and a trio of other attempts were missed or blocked as Ottawa piled on the pressure, but were failing to turn one of their chances into a goal.
After surviving the first half unscathed, Pacific were on the back foot for the entirety of the second half as well, and saw another 17 shots sent their way, nine of them on target. Melvin did well to turn several of them aside, but eventually the dam broke.
Tabla made up for his earlier misses by running onto a chipped pass from David Rodriguez, taking a touch to go around Melvin -- who had rushed out of his net -- and placing the ball into the bottom right corner for the long-awaited opening goal. Joaquim Coulanges made it 2-0 in the 81st minute when Melvin wasn't able to fully push away a shot from Rodriguez, and it fell onto the feet of Coulanges, who had an easy tap in to double the advantage.
Ottawa's mental fortitude to not get frustrated and keep pushing for the goals when they knew they were dominating is a positive trait for a team in the hunt to potentially win three trophies still this season, and they continue to lead the league in goals scored -- now up to 44 in 22 matches for an average of two per game.
Melvin stands on his head, while former teammate Ingham watches on untested
In his latest return to Ottawa to take on his former club, Pacific FC goalkeeper Sean Melvin made eight saves on Saturday night -- three off the Canadian Premier League record shared by former Tridents netminder Callum Irving (for Vancouver FC against Halifax in 2024) and former Valour loanee Jonathan Sirois against the Wanderers in 2021.
Several of Melvin's saves saw him stretch out to deny what appeared to be sure goals, including a diving stop on a header from Golden Boot leader Sam Salter, two stops on his partner in crime David Rodriguez and two stops on Ballou Tabla -- one on either side of the goal that Tabla was able to beat him with.
There were long periods of play throughout the match where Pacific were trapped in their own half and Melvin and the backline could barely get a minute or two to catch their breath, particularly in the second half where Ottawa had 70.9 per cent possession and used it ruthlessly.
Melvin perhaps could have done better on the two goals he did concede -- on the first he came out of his net frantically and was quite far off his line when Tabla ran around him, and on the second he could have potentially caught the ball or pushed it away to a less dangerous place to prevent a rebound like the one Coulanges scored from.
Really though, it was a standout performance from him that gave the Tridents any shot at picking up some much-needed points and he received deserved praise from head coach James Merriman after the match.
His Ottawa counterpart, and former teammate in Ottawa, Nathan Ingham spent most of the match just watching on, however.
On a night where he was celebrated for becoming the first player to make 100 appearances for the club, Ingham faced no shots on target in the match, with the only three shots Pacific attempted coming from low quality chances from well outside the penalty area.
He spoke after the match about the necessity to stay locked in and be ready to make a save when he is eventually called upon, but that moment never came as Pacific was prevented from getting a shot on target for the second time this season, and kept off the scoresheet for the ninth time in 2025.
Ingham, who praised Melvin as a person and a goalkeeper, also had some sympathy, saying that the new rule this season where goalkeepers can only hold onto the ball for eight seconds can cause pressure to build up even more for goalkeepers as they look to release the ball quickly, which can lead to mistakes.
Had Pacific picked up a point or more, Melvin would have been a shoo-in for the Performance of the Match and probably Team of the Week as well, but in the end it was Ingham and Ottawa walking away with the three points.
Ottawa keep pace in the CPL Shield race, but loss leaves Pacific further outside a playoff spot
Hours after Forge FC beat Halifax Wanderers FC to increase their lead atop the Canadian Premier League table to six points, Ottawa brought the gap back down to three points with their own victory at TD Place. Dropping points and letting Forge extend their lead would have been dangerous with six games remaining for Diego Mejia and Ottawa, who still firmly believe they can and will win the regular season title.
With Ottawa and Forge set to play each other in two weeks, and a big game coming up for Ottleti on the road against York United next weekend, this could be the stretch where the CPL Shield is won or lost -- and it looks like it could be a battle that goes right down to the final day of the regular season.
Pacific, meanwhile, now appear set to miss the playoffs for the first time since the CPL's inaugural 2019 season, after they lost and York United won on Friday night.
Now 12 points back of York and Halifax with six games to play, the sixth-place Tridents will need to beat multiple teams above them and get help from elsewhere if they're to have a shot at reaching the postseason, but their performances don't indicate they will suddenly turn things around and find themselves on a necessary hot streak to end the year.
The time to make a significant move toward fifth place was a few weeks ago, and this weekend's results leave them further on the outside looking in.
Pacific also suffered a blow a few minutes into the match with key midfielder Lukas Browning Lagerfeldt forced off with what appeared to be a knee injury. The Tridents midfielder was punching the ground as he got medical attention and then carried off the pitch by the stretcher crew, but James Merriman did not have an immediate update on his status in his postgame press conference.
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
David Rodríguez, Atlético Ottawa
Ottawa's star attacker was brilliant again on Saturday night, providing an assist on the winning goal and creating a game-high five chances.
What’s next?
Atlético Ottawa head to Toronto next, taking on York United FC on Sunday afternoon (2 p.m. ET), while Pacific FC returns home on Saturday night to host Vancouver FC in the Salish Sea Derby (4 p.m. PT) in Victoria.
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