Pacific FC will take on the hottest team in the Canadian Premier League tonight at Starlight Stadium.
York United, long an also-ran in the CPL, is suddenly a championship contender and is just two points out of first place. Much of the rise has been built at home with the Nine Stripes undefeated in its last seven games played in the Greater Toronto Area. They will be looking to translate that success now on the road in their trip to the Island.
The Nine Stripes are 5-1-2 in wins-losses-draws in the eight games under head coach Benjamín Mora, who took over after former York United gaffer and national-team player Martin Nash of Victoria was let go, and are 8-5-3 overall.
York United has been led by the scoring of former New England Revolution MLS player Brian Wright, who is tied for the Golden Boot league lead with eight goals on the season, and has also been lifted by the recent inclusion of 20-year-old forward Jorge Guzman on loan from Atlas of Liga MX.
Pacific FC (5-6-4) will be looking to get back on track after losing three of their last four games at home, including a deflating 3-0 setback in their last game at Starlight Stadium, against lowly Valour FC of Winnipeg.
“When we go down, it never looks like we’re ever out of the game,” PFC captain Josh Heard said in a statement.
“There were moments [against Valour] where we started to hang our heads, and we don’t have time for that. There are 13 games left, we’ve got everything to play for in front of us, and there’s no time to hang our heads, so we need to go back, regroup and attack [against York United].”
CORNER KICKS: Pacific FC announced the signing this week of six-foot-three Argentine fullback Kevin Ceceri. The 28-year-old joins PFC from Steaua Bucuresti, a Bucharest-based professional club in Romania’s Liga 2.
