Cavalry FC won a third match in a row on Saturday evening, as they defeated Pacific FC 2-1 at Starlight Stadium to halt the Tridents’ unbeaten run at nine games.
The game took on a rapid pace in the early stages, as Myer Bevan nearly scored for Cavalry in the first minute only to be denied by Kieran Baskett, and not long after Pacific had a chance from a set-piece that Thomas Meilleur-Giguère just barely missed nodding in an open goal.
After weathering a few more dangerous Pacific set-pieces, Cavalry eventually were the first side to find the net. They advanced into the final third with a run of clever quick passes but an attempted pass by Goteh Ntignee took a deflection and landed perfectly in the path of midfielder Eryk Kobza behind the defence. Kobza bore in on Baskett alone, flicking a shot toward the right goalpost and in for a well-taken first CPL goal.
Just before halftime, Cavalry doubled their lead as Fraser Aird came in from the right flank and played a pass to Myer Bevan in the box. Bevan flicked it back into the path of Aird with a well-placed backheel pass, and Aird took it first time with his weaker left foot to put it in, well out of Baskett’s reach.
With his side struggling in the first half, Pacific boss James Merriman made a halftime change, bringing Vancouver Island native Sean Young into the game in place of Djenairo Daniels.
The game remained frantic in the early second half; Cavalry missed a couple of golden opportunities in the first couple of minutes, before Pacific went down the other way and Ayman Sellouf found Adonijah Reid in a perfect spot at the edge of the six-yard box. Reid, however, hesitated too long and didn’t shoot, as the ball deflected back out of the penalty area. The second shot Pacific sent into the box hit a hand on its way through, though, and the Tridents were awarded a penalty.
With Josh Heard having missed a penalty last weekend, Manny Aparicio took the ball this time for Pacific. Aparicio, however, put his spot-kick well over the bar, and the hosts remained two goals down.
After a handful of other changes from both managers, Pacific found their lifeline with just under 20 minutes to play. Their first few attempts to get the ball into the box were turned away, but the broken play brought the ball to the feet of Aparicio. The creative midfielder lofted a pass across goal to where Easton Ongaro was standing unmarked, and the towering striker was able to get up and head the ball in to cut the lead to one.
Pacific then threw all they could at the Cavs in the final moments, even putting defender Amer Didic up front to try and get him on the end of a cross, but ultimately Cavalry settled things down and managed to see out a second consecutive away win — avoiding a last-second equalizer when Meilleur-Giguère found himself on the doorstep but couldn’t finish. With the three points, Cavalry leapfrogged — temporarily, at least — both Forge FC and York United to put them in second place in the league standings on Sunday morning.
BOX SCORE
Goals
36′ — Eryk Kobza (Cavalry FC)
44′ — Fraser Aird (Cavalry FC)
72′ — Easton Ongaro (Pacific FC)
Discipline
20′ — Yellow: Sergio Camargo (Cavalry FC)
22′ — Yellow: Thomas Meilleur-Giguère (Pacific FC)
49′ — Yellow: Jesse Daley (Cavalry FC)
51′ — Yellow: Bradley Kamdem (Cavalry FC)
51′ — Yellow: Josh Heard (Pacific FC)
62′ — Yellow: Goteh Ntignee (Cavalry FC)
75′ — Yellow: Sean Young (Pacific FC)
75′ — Yellow: Udoka Chima (Cavalry FC)
