2021 CPL regular season — Match #104 Pacific FC vs. York United October 30, 2021 at 3:00 pm PT/6:00 pm ET Starlight Stadium, Langford, British Columbia Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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In pursuit of three much-needed points as they try to jump into that fourth and final playoff spot, York United head to the west coast to take on Pacific FC on Saturday. The two teams are coming off very different results. York United came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Atletico Ottawa at TD Place on Sunday, while Pacific FC dominated FC Edmonton with a 5-1 victory at Starlight Stadium on Tuesday. Chrisnovic N'sa rescued York with his 80th-minute eqaulizer, cancelling out Antoine Coupland's heavily-deflected shot that gave the home team the lead. Six of the eleven players in the Gatorade Team of the Week for week 18 played in that match, as Noah Verhoeven, Alberto Soto and Coupland battled it out in an exciting midfield duel, while Zach Verhoven, Miguel Acosta and Nathan Ingham all made big plays on the defensive side of things -- Ingham making six saves among them. In Langford, Manny Aparicio and Marco Bustos each scored twice, and Alejandro Diaz added the other in a rout of FC Edmonton. Fraser Aird prevented them from picking up a clean sheet -- scoring from the penalty spot in the 78th minute -- but it was too little too late. It was Bustos' first start in a long time, as he was finally giving the nod to begin a match after being limited to substitute minutes following a lengthy injury absence. Despite being limited to just 16 of his side's 26 matches in league action, the Player of the Year candidate still has a more-than-respectable seven goals and five assists. He is only two back of Edmonton's Tobias Warschewski for the league lead in assists, showing how strong his start to the season was, and how important he can be down the stretch if he remains healthy. York and Pacific have played each other twice this season -- both times in the season-opening bubble in Winnipeg. On Canada Day, Diyaeddine Abzi opened the scoring for York, before Josh Heard and a Chrisnovic N'sa own goal saw Pacific take the lead. Jordan Wilson earned a point for The Nine Stripes with an 82nd minute equalizer. The other meeting this season wasn't as closely contested, with Pacific FC winning 3-0. The Tridents found the back of the net twice in the opening 10 minutes -- Matteo Polisi opening the scoring with a 6th minute goal, and Marco Bustos doubling the lead three minutes later -- a hole that York couldn't dig themselves out of. Bustos scored again in the second half to earn a 3-0 win, and three points for his side.

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3 THINGS TO WATCH:

  • Pacific FC preparing for exciting end to the season: With the CPL regular season winding down, and having already confirmed a spot in the playoffs, Pacific FC are approaching the most important part of their schedule. After months of building up to this, Pa-Modou Kah's have a chance to now push for a home playoff game by finishing in the top two, and enter the playoffs with a momentum boost. They also have the small task of squaring off with MLS side Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship on November 3 -- a game that many are calling the biggest in club history. After that, they play one last regular season game away to Cavalry, before the playoffs begin and they try to win their first North Star Shield. Their head coach believes his side are ready for the challenge, and are looking forward to it. "This is the best time of the season," said Kah on Friday. "These are the moments that you build a team toward."​
  • York United still believe they can make playoffs: With three matches remaining in the regular season, York United are on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in. They have 33 points through 25 matches, one point back of fourth-placed HFX Wanderers for the final spot. The Nine Stripes also have a match in hand over their rivals from the east coast, and could jump over them on Saturday. HFX play their second-last match of the regular season earlier in the day against high-flying Forge FC, and should they drop any points, York would have a chance to jump over them, still with that match in hand. Head coach Jimmy Brennan is confident that his team has what it takes to get over the line in the final matches of the season. "You look at the table, and there's a couple of teams ahead of you, but anybody beats anybody on any given day, it's a funny league that way... All you can really do is focus on yourself, and try to get your team as prepared as possible so when you do go into these games you give them every opportunity to be successful."​
  • Tridents confident after 5-1 win midweek: Pacific FC put up one of their best performances of the season on Tuesday, dominating FC Edmonton in a 5-1 victory. Alejandro Diaz opened the scoring early, and Marco Bustos and Manny Aparicio each scored twice, with Fraser Aird scoring Edmonton's lone goal from the penalty spot late in the second half. Bustos was named the CanPL.ca Player of the Week for his efforts. Ahead of the aforementioned busy schedule, a win like that is a morale booster, and gives an already confident Pacific team an extra push the rest of the way. "I think we have played very well in games, but also we have allowed the opposition to stay in the game," said Kah on Friday. "This was a dominant win for us, to finish off teams. Obviously 5-0 is better than 5-1 because we want to keep clean sheets. At the right time we get one of our best players back, and for him being on the scoresheet, it totally gives a boost that we hope to continue for this Saturday."​

ALL-TIME SERIES

Pacific FC wins: 2 || York United wins: 3 || Draws: 3


Previous match:

July 10, 2021 — Pacific FC 3-0 York United



KEY QUOTES

"We all know we have the greatest game ever to be played for our club next Wednesday, but to be able to play that game, you have to be able to take care of what's in front of you. What is in front of us is York tomorrow -- a team that is desperate for three points. They're going to come out blazing, but we're going to be ready for it, we've got to be hungry and showcase what we did on Tuesday." -- Pacific FC head coach Pa-Modou Kah

"They're very dynamic going forward, they've got some very good pieces. They've put together a good squad over the last year or two, and you can see that they're really coming together and gelling, enjoying their football right now. We've just got to be patient and disciplined in the way that we defend." -- York United head coach Jimmy Brennan

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