Match in a minute or less
Pacific picked up a rare victory against Cavalry at Starlight Stadium on Monday, doing so thanks to a late goal from Sean Young.
After trading chances in a relatively even game, one that saw both teams hit the woodwork at different stages, Pacific were able to send their fans home happy with a dramatic conclusion to a rare holiday Monday game.
There, Young would step up as the hero after coming off the bench, slotting home after a scrabmle in the box to pick up three crucial points for his team in their race to make the playoffs, while handing Cavalry their third straight defeat in league play.
Three Observations
Sean Young rewards gutsy Pacific performance:
Despite Cavalry's recent form, Pacific knew that it was still going to be tough to grind out a result against the defending champions.
Given that they hadn't beaten Cavalry since April of 2023, they know well how tough it is to take down a Cavalry side that is always among the league's best every season, as they've been on the wrong end of some tough results against this team in recent years.
Often, it's not enough to put in a good performance against Cavalry, as you need to be clinical in both boxes against a team that usually isn't shy in making you pay for any mistakes.
To Pacific's credit, they didn't make many mistakes in this game, which allowed them to reach the late stages with everything still hanging in the balance. At the same time, they knew that wasn't enough, as they're at a time in their season where they can't afford to drop many points.
Because of that, they pushed to the very end, and that led to a winner.
Fittingly, it comes from someone who knows the importance of perseverance, as Young was itching for a moment like this. Already in his sixth season with the club, despite being just 24, Young has struggled to match the heights he's hit in past campaigns for Pacific, as he's not been as consistent in his performances as hoped.
Having bounced in and out of the starting lineup in recent matches as he's battled form and injury issues, he started this game on the bench, but was tasked with coming in for the last 15 minutes.
There, he did exactly what head coach James Merriman would've wanted to see from him - he attacked the ball with vigour, and took the risk required to score the winning goal, offering the exact sort of late run that Pacific perhaps hadn't gotten enough of earlier in the match.
Yet, that's exactly what Pacific will have wanted to see in this moment. Having made the call to leave out Young and Marco Bustos, two key pieces in their team, it's fitting that both played a role in the winning goal, with Bustos winning an important header seconds before the ball hit the back of the net, as both showed that they wanted to still make a difference.
"Sean had a great mentality," Merriman said of Young. "He came into the game and impacted the game, he was there without the ball, with the ball, and then he got a much, much-needed goal for himself, so I think he'll take a lot of confidence from today."
Thanks to that, Pacific was able to capitalize on what was otherwise a solid performance, allowing them to pick up three crucial points.
They were made to grind for the result, but they certainly made the most of their moments - they had four big chances to Cavalry's one - and made sure that one of them counted in the end with Young's marker.
Photo Credit: Pacific FC/Sheldon Mack
Slumping Cavalry struggles to find an offensive breakthrough:
With this defeat, Cavalry have lost three games in a row for just the second time in their club's history, as they continue to navigate a tough stretch of games.
Sitting with a record of 1W-1D-4L in their last 6 CPL matches, along with their defeat to Vancouver FC in the Canadian Championship quarter-finals on penalties, Cavalry have come back to earth lately.
Safe to say that a stretch where they won four league games in a row in May feels like a distant memory, as they now sit 12 points adrift of first-place Forge, narrowly holding onto third place in the table.
Unfortunately for Cavalry, some familiar struggles once again haunted them in this game, too. Offensively, they were kept off the scoreboard for the fourth time in their last six CPL matches, as they've scored just five times over their last eight league games.
Then, defensively, they once again let in a sloppy goal at the wrong time, as they were minutes away from at least clawing out a road draw, if not more.
Yet, that's the challenge they face right now as they continue to navigate this slump. Ultimately, these can happen to any team at any time, and it's not the first time that Cavalry have gone through a run like this.
At the same time, they'll be most frustrated with the fact that they've been their own biggest enemy in recent games, instead.
For example, offensively, they got into a lot of good areas, as they tried to target the space behind Pacific's wing backs on several wide switches. Then, when they got into those areas, they were pretty trigger-happy, firing 16 shots on the day.
Where they struggled, however, was ensuring that those shots were of high quality, as they only had 1.13 xG in this game, with just one of their shots registering as more than 0.2 xG. Not only that, but they also had just 22 touches in Pacific's box despite having 56 final third entries and holding 52.5% of possession - by comparison, Pacific had 27 touches in Cavalry's box despite having just 45 final third entries.
When watching the match, there were several moments where Cavalry got into the right spaces in the attack, but then couldn't make the right decision, as they'd often hesitate or force something that wasn't there.
That just shows the challenge they now face, though, as they'll only bust out of this slump if they can sharpen their execution in both boxes. Sometimes, a team's luck can turn overnight, as they'll just have to keep getting to the right areas of the pitch.
The only problem is that time isn't on their side with the results that Forge and Atlético Ottawa are picking up at the top of the CPL table, as both continue to pull away from Cavalry in the middle pack. With back-to-back matches against Ottawa and Forge looming at the end of the month, Cavalry will hope they're back to top form by then, so they'll look to make their luck turn as soon as possible, helping them end this slump.
"Anyone who plays professional football doesn't like losing games," Cavalry's full back, Fraser Aird, said after the game. "Cavalry has a high standard that we set at the football club; it's been like that since 2019, and that's not going to change."
"Everyone in the room is disappointed; we know we can do a lot better."
The xG map from this game, with Cavalry in purple and Pacific in black, showing Cavalry's inability to turn their shots into quality attempts (OPTA)
Pacific gets team buy-in en route to important clean sheet:
For the first time since June 1st, Pacific kept a clean sheet in this match, as they held Cavalry's attackers at bay in a solid defensive performance.
Of course, they were helped by Cavalry's current confidence crisis, which certainly played a role, but it's important to credit the work Pacific did to throw them off their game.
Despite having a young defensive group, one that consists of two U SPORTS centre backs, Eric Lajeunesse and Fin Tugwell, flanking the experienced Aly Ndom, they've done well to build some chemistry in recent weeks. Then, in front of them, they've continued to get important reps in a 5-4-1, one that's allowed them to be a bit more aggressive on both sides of the ball.
They put in an honest performance in their last match against Atlético Ottawa, only conceding two goals as Pacific succumbed to the Ottawa pressure they invited as they sat back a bit too much on the day, but they did a lot better at stemming the tide in this match.
That's shown in their possession metrics, as they held 48% of the ball in this game after holding just 36% against Ottawa, but they also made the most of their other defensive actions.
Just take a look at their duel numbers, as they won 54.8% of their duels, doing a good job of playing on top of Cavalry.
That started with their forwards, as they did a much better job of pressing high up the field than they did against Ottawa, but the high-pressure system only worked because their midfielders and back five were quick to pounce on loose Cavalry touches in central areas.
Yet, that feels like the story of this game - Pacific won the battle of the central areas. In a game where the ball spent just over 41% of the time in the middle of the park, they came out on top, as the duel numbers showed, and that allowed them to grab the victory.
That's a credit to the work they did to stay organized in their 5-4-1 formation, one that certainly seems here to stay.
Now, their big goal will be to continue and clean up their execution at both ends of the pitch, but a game like this shows that this tactical setup is allowing them to compete against teams higher up in the table.
That last point is quite important to note, too, because Pacific have picked up just four wins this season, with only three of them coming against teams in the top five - given that two of those victories have come in recent weeks with this win vs. Cavalry and a July win vs. the Halifax Wanderers, that's another sign that they've started to find a groove in recent weeks.
"It was great, it's like a little bit of weight off the shoulders," Pacific's goalkeeper, Sean Melvin, said after the match. "I think this game was a little different from the rest, as we were able to focus all the way through. There were a couple of times in the last games where we were asleep at some points, but the guys were extremely sharp today."
The action map from this game, showing how much of it was spent in the middle of the park (OPTA)
What They Said
"We needed a performance like this. I think we were very good; we were solid from the beginning to the end of the match. We were knocking on the door, we wanted to create chances from wide spaces, and we did that. It was very much a team performance. At the end of the day, maybe it could have gone either way, but we were there, and I think we'll be most happy after winning in front of our fans at home and continuing to build the energy that they deserve." -- Pacific FC head coach James Merriman.
"It's a huge confidence booster. I think we've been putting in a lot of good work recently, and now have something to show for it with a win, and hopefully we can build off this, as this is an important couple of weeks for us, (starting) with Vancouver coming up next." -- Pacific FC goalkeeper Sean Melvin.
"It's a gut punch, isn't it? I thought we were okay in the first half, I think Pacific were better than us, but then I thought we changed it around in the second half. We had them pegged in and had 11 shots in the second half, but only one of them made the goalkeeper work. That's the only difference, really - they went up the other end on a transition, found a second-phase chance on it and scored while we were pushing for the win. But that's what I want the boys to do, I don't want to sit here and take a draw and then go back home, no, we've got to get back to winning ways, but that starts with scoring goals." -- Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Aly Ndom, Pacific FC
Ndom did a lot of important dirty work at the back for Pacific, finishing with two tackles, one block, four clearances, two interceptions, five recoveries, and six out of 10 duels won. Then, on the ball, he was quite calm and collected, as he tends to be - he also completed 36 out of 38 passes (95%), including one long ball and two passes into the final third, while also chipping in with one shot and one dribble, helping complete a balanced performance from the centre back.
All of Aly Ndom's actions from this game (OPTA)
What’s next?
Pacific will have a short trip to make for their next CPL game, as they travel to Langley to take on rivals Vancouver FC in the Salish Sea Derby at Willoughby Community Park on Sunday, August 10th (3:00 p.m. PT). Meanwhile, Cavalry will return to home as they get set to host the Halifax Wanderers at ATCO Field on Saturday, August 9th (3:00 p.m. CT/6:00 p.m. AT).
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