HIGHLIGHTS: Pacific FC vs. Cavalry FC (Oct. 5, 2024) | Presented by tonybet

Cavalry FC picked up three massive points on the road at Starlight Stadium on Saturday afternoon, defeating Pacific FC 2-1 to climb up to second place in the Canadian Premier League table.

The match started in disastrous fashion for the Tridents, after goalkeeper Emil Gazdov was sent off less than three minutes in. Gazdov came out of his box to get to a pass over the Pacific backline and intentionally punched the ball away from danger. He was shown a straight red card by referee Mathieu Souaré, forcing James Merriman into an early substitution to bring on Sean Melvin.

Tobias Warschewski fired the ensuing free kick into the wall before Melvin made saves on shots from Jay Herdman and Sergio Camargo. Pacific left back Christian Greco-Taylor took a free kick at the other end of the pitch a few minutes later, but his effort also struck the defensive wall. Diego Gutierrez had an opportunity to shoot from a tight angle in the 17th minute, but Melvin stood his ground to make another big save to deny the Cavs midfielder.

Gutierrez and Moses Dyer traded off-target shots from outside the box in the 19th and 20th minutes as both sides pushed for a breakthrough.

The first goal came from New Zealand youth international Jay Herdman, who headed Cavalry into the lead after running onto a curled cross from Ali Musse, redirecting it past Melvin to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

Pacific equalized immediately, with Dario Zanatta converting from the penalty spot with a calm, chipped shot after Marco Carducci was judged to have brought down Moses Dyer in the box. As a result, a hectic first half ended with the teams tied at 1-1.

After a lively start to the second half from both sides, Cavalry re-took the lead just after the hour mark, with Warschewski finishing off a great team move from the visitors.

Receiving the ball along the left touchline, Warschewski flicked the ball up the line for Tom Field, who then passed it laterally to Herdman. Herdman might have had a chance to score his second of the game but chose the unselfish option, sliding the ball to Warschewski, who fired it through a crowd to pick out the bottom right corner and put the Cavs back in front.

That opened the floodgates for Cavalry, who then scored twice in three minutes to rub salt in Pacific’s wound.

Warscheski scored his second goal of the match in the 75th minute, picking out the bottom right corner with another well-placed shot to double his team’s advantage. Two minutes and seven seconds later Lowell Wright picked up his first goal for the club, beating Melvin to the same side as the previous two goals after receiving a through ball from Sergio Camargo.

Things went from bad to worse for the Tridents, who lost centre-back Kevin Ceceri in the 84th minute after he picked up two yellow cards in under five minutes and joined Gazdov in the locker room.

The result was decided well before that point, and after a final few minutes and two minutes of stoppage time, Cavalry’s three points were confirmed by the final whistle from the referee. A professional performance saw the Cavs move into second place in the table, and keep the Tridents on the outside looking in.

BOX SCORE

Lineups 

Pacific FC: Gazdov; Dada-Luke, Meilleur-Giguère, Ceceri, Greco-Taylor; Dominguez, Young, Yeates; O’Hea (Melvin 5′), Dyer (Quintana 88′), Zanatta (Bahous 46′)

Cavalry FC: Carducci; Harms (Aird 46′), Klomp, Montgomery, Field; Shome (Trafford 46′), Gutierrez (Wright 46′); Musse, Camargo (Kobza 81′), Herdman (Myroniuk 64′); Warschewski

Goals

35′ — Jay Herdman (Cavalry FC)
38′ — Dario Zanatta (Pacific FC) — penalty
61′ — Tobias Warschewski (Cavalry FC)
75′ — Tobias Warschewski (Cavalry FC)
77′ — Lowell Wright (Cavalry FC)

Discipline

3′ —Red: Emil Gazdov (Pacific FC)
31′ — Yellow: Thomas Meilleur-Giguère (Pacific FC)
49′ — Yellow: Marco Dominguez (Pacific FC)
63′ — Yellow: Jay Herdman (Cavalry FC)
81′ — Yellow: Kevin Ceceri (Pacific FC)
84′ — Red: Kevin Ceceri (Pacific FC) — second yellow card