Win and you’re in. That’s all any team can ask for as Pacific FC moved back in control of its playoff destiny.
Sunday’s result in the Canadian Premier League — the 1-1 draw between Valour FC and Vancouver FC in Langley — swung back control to PFC and away from VFC.
The Tridents currently hold the fifth and final playoff berth, two points ahead of Vancouver FC and three ahead of Valour FC heading into the final week of the regular season. All three clubs are still alive in the playoff hunt. The permutations are many with several scenarios still in play, depending on results in the final games. The most relevant and straightforward path, however, for the Tridents is to win and they’re in if they beat regular-season champion Forge FC of Hamilton on Saturday at Starlight Stadium. If they do that, they will avoid having to scoreboard watch the results in the other final games as VFC travels to Ottawa to play Atletico at TD Place Stadium and Valour FC hosts Cavalry FC of Calgary at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg. All the games will be begin simultaneously Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.
“It’s very simple and very clear for us if we do our job at home in front of our fans,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
“We had control for several weeks, and then lost it [to VFC] and tried to regain it, and now we have it back.”
The Tridents, 2021 league champions, are looking to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since the CPL’s inaugural season in 2019. They were handed a lifeline by striker Reon Moore’s two dramatic late goals in the 2-1 win over York United in Toronto last week. Fate is often at play in these things. Moore has 28 caps and is a Trinidad and Tobago national team regular but was not called up for selection in the Soca Warriors’ 2-2 draw against Cuba that same day, which resulted in him instead being in a PFC jersey for his club heroics.
If the Tridents make the playoffs, they would return to Toronto to meet fourth-place York United in the 4-5 play-in game scheduled for Oct. 23, the first step leading to the CBC nationally-televised CPL championship game Nov. 9.
Forge FC has been the gold standard in the CPL with four league playoff championships and this year has won the regular-season championship, and the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup berth that goes with it. (The CPL playoff champion will also earn a CONCACAF Champions Cup berth).
Cavalry FC and Atletico Ottawa will decide second and third placings this week with their results while the HFX Wanderers of Halifax will miss the playoffs.
