HIGHLIGHTS: Pacific FC vs. Cavalry FC (April 23, 2023)

For the second time in less than four days, Pacific FC hosted Cavalry FC at Starlight Stadium, as both teams closed off matchweek two of CPL action on Sunday afternoon.

After meeting in Canadian Championship action in midweek, where Pacific edged Cavalry on penalties after the game ended up tied at 1-1, both teams were eager to get back at it in what promised to be an intriguing rematch.

Yet, much like in midweek, 90 minutes would not be enough to split the difference, leaving both teams to split the spoils after another hard-fought 1-1 draw.

To begin the game, Cavalry managed to grab an early goal inside 10 minutes, as Goteh Ntignee managed to get on the end of an inch-perfect Ali Musse cross, finding a way to bundle the ball over the line on what eventually was ruled as an Emil Gazdov own goal. Given that Pacific had held most of the ball early on, that was a huge boost for the visitors, too, who were able to deflate the hosts’ momentum with their marker.

Fuelled by a desire to grab an equalizer, however, Pacific really started to push in the 30th minute, grabbing a flurry of dangerous chances in Cavalry’s box. Through that, Sean Young and Josh Heard had good looks at goal, but ultimately the ball would end up in the hands of Cavalry’s Marco Carducci in goal after Heard’s attempt, which was a powerful header, was aimed too centrally.

Continuing that push, Pacific then had an ever better look just two minutes later. There, they did well to catch Cavalry in possession high up the field, leading Heard to tee up Adonijah Reid in a dangerous position, but his low shot was only kept out thanks to a fantastic stop from Carducci.

Through those efforts, however, they’d finally be rewarded in the 42nd minute. After a bit of a scramble in the box that saw Heard get bundled over, the ball fell to Aymen Sellouf, who managed to cut inside and unleash a shot that’d deflect off of Heard’s back and into the net to tie things up.

That result would hold through to half time, as well, leaving both teams to use that time to figure out how to split the difference as they got set to return for the second half.

There, however, the match would slow down a bit, as both teams settled back into the match. As a result, the next big chance wouldn’t come until the 57th minute, as Cavalry’s Jesse Daley managed to create a bit of space for himself in the box, just striking the outside of the goal with his attempt.

Soon after, Pacific had a fantastic look at the other end, as they continued to set the tempo in possession. There, Sellouf did well to dance around half time substitute, Fraser Aird, before teeing up a fellow sub, Djenairo Daniels, who’d just mistime his leap to send his header wide.

Ramping up that pressure, fellow second half substitutes, Easton Ongaro and Kekuta Manneh, would unleash a pair of back-to-back powerful strikes in the 75th minute, but both would be narrowly blocked, despite both seeming goalbound.

From there, however, other than a few Pacific half chances, that’d be all that this game had to offer, leaving both sides to head home with a point apiece in their respective pockets.

BOX SCORE

Goals

9′ — Emil Gazdov – own goal (Cavalry FC)

42′ — Josh Heard (Pacific FC)

Discipline

18′ — Yellow: Cédric Toussaint (Pacific FC)

28′ — Yellow: Sean Young (Pacific FC)

34′ — Yellow: Jesse Daley (Cavalry FC)

40′ — Yellow: Goteh Ntignee (Cavalry FC)

90+5′ — Yellow: Fraser Aird (Cavalry FC)