PREVIEW: Pacific FC vs. Forge FC — 2024 Match #112

2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #112Pacific FC vs. Forge FCOctober 19, 2024 at 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ETStarlight Stadium in Langford, British ColumbiaWatch Live: YouTube & OneSoccer.ca // Tickets available here

On Oct. 19, all four CPL matches in The Outcome! presented by TonyBet will be played simultaneously at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, and will each be available to watch for free at YouTube.com/OneSoccer.

It’s all come down to this.

Heading into the final matchday of the Canadian Premier League regular season, the mission is simple for Pacific FC – beat Forge FC at Starlight Stadium on Saturday, and they’ll reach the playoffs for a fifth straight season. After a wild season filled with all sorts of ups and downs, that would mark quite the conclusion to their regular season campaign for the Vancouver Island-based outfit.

For Forge, however, they’ll want to find a way to play spoiler against their West Coast foes. Having already been crowned as CPL Shield winners after topping the regular season table, they have far less at stake than Pacific, who could also be eliminated from the playoff race altogether if they drop points depending on results elsewhere.

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No matter what happens to Forge in this one, they’ll finish the campaign atop the table, giving them a huge edge heading into the playoffs. At the same time, they want to ensure they enter the playoffs as sharp as possible, especially after falling 2-0 to Atlético Ottawa in a rare home defeat last week.

Against a Pacific side that’s expected to put in a strong performance in their final home match of 2024, this will be a good match for Forge to get into that playoff mode, especially given the history between these two clubs, with Pacific the lone team to ever beat Forge in a CPL Final (doing so back in 2021).

“We have to be prepared for a team with with a lot of energy and giving everything they have,” Forge’s head coach, Bobby Smyrniotis, said of Pacific. “We’ve got some processes that we want to be able to work through, and we’ve got players that we want to get on the pitch make sure that we give them a level of sharpness going into into the final week.”

Naturally, however, the focus will remain on Pacific in this game, and for good reason. Currently sitting in the CPL’s fifth and final playoff spot with 31 points, two ahead of sixth place Vancouver and three ahead of seventh place Valour, Pacific have the luxury of heading into this matchday without needing to worry about what is happening in any other matches.

If they get the job done in this game, they’ll be able to celebrate without having to wait for any out of town results to come in, and they won’t have to spend the last instants of the game clued to a stream of another game. At the same time, that could quickly flip on them, as a draw or loss could open the door for Vancouver or Valour to pass them, so they’ll also have to make sure they’re locked in and focused on the task at hand from the first minute onwards, no matter if they take the lead or go down a goal.

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“We feel that over the last four to six weeks, our group doesn’t feel that we’re out of any game,” Pacific’s head coach, James Merriman, said this week. “Maybe in the middle period of the season when we were struggling, we would concede a goal and you can see the attitude, the spirit and the mentality of the team drop, thinking the game got away from us, but I don’t believe that that’s where we’re at anymore at this point the season.”

In terms of player availability, Pacific will welcome back Emil Gazdov and Kevin Ceceri from suspensions, while Marco Dominguez returns after representing Guatemala during the international break. Meanwhile, Forge will be without Nana Ampomah and Alessandro Hojabrpour due to suspension, but Garven Metusala will return to the fold after representing Haiti during the international break.

All CPL and Canadian Championship matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Telus’ Optik TV (Channel 980) as well as online at OneSoccer.ca, through the OneSoccer app and on the fuboTV Canada platform.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Avoiding distractions a huge key for both sides: Even though both teams enter this game without any need to keep an eye on what will be unfolding around them as “The Outcome” plays out, it’s worth noting that it’s not as easy as it sounds to ignore what’s going on elsewhere. With Pacific, for example, while they know they control their own destiny, things can quickly flip on their head in a game, as an early mistake could put them behind the 8-ball, leading to an early goal or a sending off. Of course, they’ll want to avoid anything of the sort, but the beauty of this sport is that anything can happen in any given match, and it’s important to be ready for that. The danger of that, however, is that it can be easy to get distracted and want to pay attention to what’s happening elsewhere, especially knowing that some other results could help them get the job done without even getting a result out of this game. Because of that, it’ll be important for Pacific to not think about what’s going on elsewhere until their match is over. Yet, interestingly, Forge will provide them with a good example of what that looks like — with nothing at stake for them in terms of booking a spot in the playoffs or seeding, Forge will need to use their own self-motivation to get the most out of this game, or else they could risk putting in a flat performance against a motivated Pacific side. That’s the unique challenge of this game for both teams, however — with their fates in their own hands, it’ll be important for them to remain locked in as they chase their various goals. For what it’s worth, given the experience both sides have, it’s expected that doesn’t end up being a problem for either, but they’ll now look to prove that.

• Pacific sticking to club philosophy in big games: Ever since their first game as a club, Pacific have remained true to one key philosophy – they’re not afraid to trust young players, even in big matches. As a result, they’ve never had much of a problem in accumulating U-21 Canadian minutes, and that’s not changed this year, as they entered this game with a league-leading 4,722 U-21 minutes under their belt. What’s been most impressive, too, is that their youngsters have been finding a way to contribute even as the season reaches a point where managers might be a little more hesitant to put in young players. For example, 21-year-old goalkeeper Emil Gazdov has played significant minutes when available, while 18-year-old Sami Keshavarz has made five of his eight appearances on the season over Pacific’s last nine games, making three starts over that span. Along with 19-year-old left back Christian Greco-Taylor, who has started eight of Pacific’s last nine matches, those are three youngsters who could play a key role in this game, even despite what’s at stake. That’s huge, yet, that’s a credit to Pacific’s club philosophy, and that will have a huge impact down the road. Look at key players elsewhere on the squad, such as Sean Young and Kunle Dada-Luke, who were once U-21 players on the Pacific squad that won a North Star Cup in 2021, and have used their experience playing in big games as youngsters to become key leaders in this team as they’ve gotten older. Now, they’ll hope for a similar path for their current crop of youngsters, and the experience gained from games like this will be massive for that. Before then, however, they’ll hope for them to step up in this game as they look to get to the playoffs, where more valuable experiences would await them, much like they did for Young and Dada-Luke. “Regardless of the type of game, whether it’s Canadian Championship, a playoff semi-final, big regular season games, that’s where you need to give the young players that responsibility to go and get a result and put in a big performance,” Merriman offered.

• Auditions for playoff minutes key for Forge: While Forge might not have a lot to battle for as a team this weekend, the same can’t be said of their players, who will be jostling for spots in their XI heading into the playoffs. A deep group, minutes can sometimes be hard to come by in big games, with Forge able to turn to different names when needed. Because of that, every game can also serve as an audition opportunity for players to show they can be trusted in those bigger moments, which is something to watch. Especially in the attack, where as many as seven or eight players will be battling for four starting spots heading into the playoffs, that could prove to be a fierce battle. Therefore, while one might look at Forge’s lineup and see key contributors such as Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson, Kyle Bekker, Noah Jensen, Alessandro Hojabrpour, Béni Badibanga, David Choinière and Tristan Borges who one would expect to be in Forge’s lineup for the playoffs, Smyrniotis won’t be shy in giving an opportunity to someone who proves they’re deserving of a look, even at the expense of those aforementioned names. Because of that, keep an eye on Forge’s players in this game, especially on a day where someone like an Hojabrpour won’t be available due to suspension, as that could open up an opportunity for someone to shine as they try to show they deserve more minutes in the playoffs. For those who have been following this Forge side all year, this is a big reason why they’ve won the CPL Shield, however – the competition in their roster created by the depth has pushed their squad while also allowing them to navigate injuries and playing in multiple competitions, and they’ll now look to use that depth to their advantage as they get set for the playoffs. “That’s what you use these games for,” Smyrniotis said of those auditions. “It’s to make sure players put in a performance because when you get into the knockout matches, you go with the players that are that are most prepared, who are ready to not just play the best football, but to leave everything out on the pitch, too.”

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Pacific FC: Gazdov; Dada-Luke, Quintana, Meilleur-Giguère, Greco-Taylor; Young, Quintana, Yeates; Tîrcoveanu; Dyer, Zanatta

Forge FC: Koleilat; Duncan, Achinioti-Jönsson, Metusala, Owolabi-Belewu; Kane, Bekker; Choinière, Jensen, Borges; Campbell

ALL-TIME SERIES

Pacific FC wins: 4 || Forge FC wins: 14 || Draws: 3

Last meeting:

August 30, 2024 — Forge FC 2-0 Pacific FC

KEY QUOTES

“We spoke early in the week about not trying to play into the scenario as much, and just focusing on our last match at home against Forge, who we respect, we know the quality that they have, but we also know in terms of what we want and where we’re at in the season, it’s in our control. It’s important to have a big performance at home for our fans, as well. So we’ve been fully focused, we know we’ve gotten to this position, where we win and we advance, so it’s big game, of which we’ve had many, but the players are ready with the right focus.” — Pacific FC head coach James Merriman

“We’ve taken care of our business, so it’s about preparing for what the most important game is, and to do that, you have to plan training. Since we beat Valour (to clinch the CPL Shield), everything around our training, how you measure player loads, what you do,  has been all based on (Forge’s first playoff) game on on October 27th. The big thing, though, is that between Valour and that playoff game there are two games, and you want to make sure your process and your performances are good (in those games).” — Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis