The Halifax Wanderers have continued their strong start to the 2025 CPL season, as they defeated Pacific FC 3-1 in their home opener at Wanderers Grounds on Saturday.
After picking up a win and a draw in their first two games of the season, this is a big result for the Wanderers, who started slowly in 2024, something they’ve done well to put behind them so far this season.
As for Pacific, they lost their second straight game after winning their season opener, continuing a tough start to 2025 for them.
Returning to the game, Pacific almost got on the board inside the first minute, as Daniel de Pauli recovered the ball high up the field after a turnover by Halifax’s goalkeeper, Rayane Yesli, but de Pauli would be unable to squeeze his shot attempt past Yesli, who made up for his mistake by quickly closing down the angle to make the save.
Soon after, Pacific had another great attempt, as Marco Bustos found Pedro Machado with a great cross on the second phase of a corner, but Machado’s header would be denied by a strong stop from Yesli.
Having survived that early wave of Pacific pressure, the Wanderers started to grow into the game, and that led them to find their opener in the 19th minute. After a Wanderers corner, the ball fell to Wesley Timóteo at the edge of the box, and after his first attempt was blocked, Timóteo curled a strike into the top corner with his right foot, with his shot going off the crossbar and in for the Wanderers’ first home goal of 2025.
The Wanderers then almost made it 2-0 right before half time, as Sean Rea found the run of Thomas Meilleur-Giguère at the back post on a free kick, but Meilleur-Giguère was unable to punish his old team, with his header lopping just over the crossbar from close range.
On the other side of the break, the Wanderers nearly scored on another set-piece, as they caused havoc in Pacific’s box on a 57th minute corner, There, the ball fell to Giorgio Probo, who had an acrobatic kick attempt blocked, before Adam Pearlman sliced a shot just wide from close range on the ensuing rebound.
Right after, the Wanderers continued to push, as Rea had a great chance to score on a counter-attack, as he curled a perfect shot towards goal, only finding himself denied by a fine stop from Pacific’s Max Anchor.
Still just one shot away from tying things up, Pacific almost found that moment in the 63rd minute, as the ball fell to Ronan Kratt inside the box, but he’d be unable to keep his curled shot below the crossbar.
At the other end, however, the Wanderers finally found their second goal in the 65th minute. After some nice combination play between Rea and Probo at the edge of the box, Probo teed up a wide-open Ryan Telfer, who calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.
To Pacific’s credit, they didn’t get too discouraged by conceding that goal, however. As a result, they managed to halve their deficit in the 71st minute, as Bustos picked out Dario Zanatta, who had just come off the bench into the game, with a nice cutback, and Zanatta did the rest with a tidy finish into the top corner.
That seemed to give Pacific some momentum – they almost tied things up just moments later in the 73rd minute, as Sami Keshavarz had a great chance on a cross, but his shot was saved by Yesli. Then, on the ensuing corner, Aly Ndom found himself unmarked for a header, but his attempt sailed just wide of the goal.
Eager to regain their two-goal lead, the Wanderers had a great chance to do so in the 80th minute, as Timóteo flashed a dangerous free kick towards goal, forcing an acrobatic save out of Anchor to keep it out. Then, on that subsequent corner, Tiago Coimbra sent a dangerous header towards goal, but his shot would be blocked on the goal line by Zanatta.
Eventually, the Wanderers would get their insurance marker in the dying moments of the game, having survived another wave of late Pacific pressure up until that point. Following a stunning individual run from Yohan Baï, he curled the ball into the back of the net with his right foot, securing all three points for his team, giving the home fans one last thing to cheer about on the day.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Halifax Wanderers FC: Yesli; Pearlman, Meilleur-Giguère, Sow, Timóteo; Callegari (Biello 88′), Johnston; Bahamboula (Baï 69′), Probo (Dias 69′), Rea (Rampersad 78′); Telfer (Coimbra 78′)
Pacific FC: Anchor; Chung, Quintana, Machado, Greco-Taylor; Daniels (Ndom 71′), Young (Mukumbilwa 75′), de Pauli (Keshavarz 26′); Bustos, Heard, Kratt (Zanatta 71′)
Goals
19′ — Wesley Timóteo (Halifax Wanderers FC)
65′ — Ryan Telfer (Halifax Wanderers FC)
71′ — Dario Zanatta (Pacific FC)
90+6′ — Yohan Baï (Halifax Wanderers FC)
Discipline
27′ — Yellow: Kadin Chung (Pacific FC)
43′ — Yellow: Juan Quintana (Pacific FC)
45+1′ — Yellow: Pedro Machado (Pacific FC)
45+5′ — Yellow: Adam Pearlman (Halifax Wanderers FC)
45+6′ — Yellow: Giorgio Probo (Halifax Wanderers FC)
79′ — Yellow: Rayane Yesli (Halifax Wanderers FC)
84′ — Yellow: Yohan Baï (Halifax Wanderers FC)
