Pacific FC opened the season with a 1-0 thunderous win over their new rivals Vancouver FC on Saturday afternoon. Vancouver FC started their inaugural hoping for a statement against the 2021 CPL champions. It was the first game back for ex-Pacific FC goalkeeper Callum Irving, he was gifted with an array of boos every time he touched the ball.
Tensions were high and both teams were looking to get a tally on the board quickly. Vancouver found the back of the net first, however, it was flagged as an offside bringing the game back to 0-0. Pacific neared a goal when Amer Đidić set a beautiful cross to Bradley Vliet only to be denied by the crossbar in the 22’ with the rebound being sent over the net by Cédric Toussaint. Vancouver battled heavily playing a very defensive game as Pacific kept applying pressure in search of a goal only for both teams to go into the halftime break without any goals.
Pacific opened the second half strong with Josh Heard taking advantage of the missed clearing attempt from Vancouver FC, only to be denied by his former teammate. Pacific then rained shot attempts on the net, with several shots that forced Vancouver’s Callum Irving to make some acrobatic saves.
It wouldn’t be until the 81’ minute that Manny Aparicio would find the bottom left corner of the net erupting Starlight Stadium into a frenzy. Manny lead his teammates to the away Vancouver FC fans to shush them, which received applause from the Pacific fans.
The game ended with Pacific’s Emil Gazdov claiming the clean sheet, and with Pacific taking an early lead in the standings.
Goals
81′ — Manny Aparicio (Pacific FC)
Discipline
45′ — Yellow: Kadin Chung (Vancouver FC)
71′ — Yellow: Min-Jae Kwak (Vancouver FC)