CALGARY –
In a battle between two Canadian Premier League rivals who have faced each other all season, their eighth meeting on Saturday rightly ended in a controversial stalemate.
An own goal in the 15th minute of extra time for Cavalry FC goalkeeper Marco Carducci made the difference as Pacific FC advanced to the league game with a relentless 2-1 victory.
Arriving at the ball just before it crossed the goal line, second-half substitute Kunle Dada-Luke provided a pass to the center of Carducci, who was stationed next to the post with his arm raised to call out what ‘he thought he must have been a goal kick.
The ball got stuck between the goalkeeper’s legs and dribbled into the net.
“You don’t stop, you have to keep playing,” Pacific coach Pa-Modou Kah said. “We have the referees and we say we can’t control them, they are going to make their decision and the boys that we put on the line, they could have an impact on the game and they have had an impact on the game.
“So everyone stood up and the fight and the desire that these boys showed was huge.”
As cavalry players and the crowd of 2,927 at ATCO Stadium in Calgary protested the lack of a whistle for what they believed was a ball out of reach, Pacific celebrated the strike that sent the club to the Vancouver Island at the CPL Finals for the first time.
“It seems like every time there’s a playoff situation we talk about those appeals or the refereeing,” Cavalry coach and general manager Tommy Wheeldon Jr. said. the refereeing gets better in the big moments, I prefer to focus on what we can control. It is the effort that we put in and the boys have not stopped and I am proud of them for everything. they’ve been through this year.
Pacific will meet the winner of Sunday’s semi-final between number one seed Forge FC and fourth seed York United FC. Hamilton’s Forge is the reigning league champion having won the first two CPL titles.
“We knew that coming in it would be a battle,” said Pacific goaltender Callum Irving. “It was everything we thought it would be and the guys were up for the entire 120 minutes.”
Trailing 1-0 at half-time, Cavalry equalized two minutes after the start of the second half.
On a corner from midfielder Ben Fisk, six-foot-two defender Karifa Yao pushed a header into the upper right corner past Irving’s outstretched arms.
It was only the second goal of the season for Yao.
Calgary’s best chance for the lead came in the 60th minute on a similar play from the same corner, again with Fisk sending a dangerous ball into the penalty area. But Daan Klomp’s header flew over the net.
“The locker room was not pleasant,” said Acting Cavalry Captain Mason Trafford. “We did what we planned to do, but allowed two bad goals above our standard and didn’t score when we maybe could have.”
After a relatively calm first half, spirits heated in the second when Pacific forward Josh Heard stomped on Sergio Camargo and sent the cavalry midfielder flying.
This sparked a short scrum near the sidelines in which coaches Wheeldon and Kah were also seen screaming. Heard received a yellow card for the foul.
“It was a great street fight,” said Wheeldon. “It was playoff football. It was intense. There were goals, there were moments, tackles, and I think we played in the conditions – it was tough there. So sometimes it wasn’t pretty, but my God, it was a great advertisement for Canadian football.
Calgary dominated possession in the first half, but the odds were fairly even and Pacific scored the only goal.
On a perfectly executed right wing streak in the 33rd minute, Heard tossed a ball high and deep into the middle where Manuel Aparicio’s header allowed Terran Campbell to shoot into an open net.
As the Cavalry won the season series 3-2-1, the team lost two of the biggest games, both at ATCO Field. The Pacific shut out Calgary 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the Canadian championship in September.
“All year long we fought against Calgary and it was always a great battle. It must have come back against them and we came out victorious, ”Kah said. “We’re happy to go to the final, but we also have to thank Calgary for their whole organization is a first class organization, the way they work and everything. It’s a great rivalry.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 20, 2021
“Coffeeaholic. Lifelong alcohol fanatic. Typical travel expert. Prone to fits of apathy. Internet trailblazer.”