'B.C. is purple': Pacific FC upset Whitecaps in Canadian Championship clash
On a night to remember at Starlight Stadium, and the growth of a B.C. rivalry
The thing about David and Goliath stories, fun as they are to imagine, is you never truly expect David to come out on top. On Thursday night, in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 4,997 at Langford’s Starlight Stadium, Pacific FC pulled off the improbable: toppling a surging Vancouver Whitecaps side in a 2-1 victory that, even before the kickoff, was guaranteed to become the biggest in franchise history.
It was far from predetermined.
Entering the match, Pacific was looking to shake off the cobwebs from a 2-1 loss to Cavalry FC, while the Whitecaps were riding an eight-game unbeaten streak since signing Scottish star midfielder Ryan Gauld.
The first half alone saw enough plot twists to belong in an M. Night Shyamalan thriller —first, with Terran Campbell opening the scoring for Pacific from the penalty spot, then Gauld providing the equalizer for the Whitecaps mere minutes later.
Pacific, so accustomed to boa constricting teams with its ball-dominant approach, managed just 33.5% of possession in the first half. Instead, with the Whitecaps winning the midfield battle, Pa-Modou Kah’s side was forced to make its mark on the counter-attack—often sending long, looping, Hail Mary-esque passes beyond the back line to wingers Josh Heard and Gianni dos Santos, hoping for an error from their Major League Soccer opponent.
“We had a tough time with our pressure to start in the first half,” said Whitecaps head coach Marc dos Santos. “Sometimes our wingers were too deep, and they weren’t able to participate in that pressure, so it allowed them to get some plays in behind us.”
Missing from the match was marquee attacking midfielder Marco Bustos. The Canadian Premier League leader in goals (5) and assists (4)—and a former member of the Whitecaps’ first team—he was reported as dealing with a minor lower body injury before the match, as per CanPL.ca’s Kristian Jack.
Manny Aparicio, making his eighth appearance and first Canadian Championship start for the Tridents, filled Bustos’ absence with aplomb, pestering the Whitecaps’ back four often and breaking through with a right-footed rocket in the 28th minute, assisted by Josh Heard, that sent his club ahead 2-1 and stirred Pacific’s purple-clad supporters into a frenzy.
“We were tuned in from the first minute,” Heard told reporters post-match. “It really showed our cohesiveness, because we battled from the first minute all the way to the ninetieth, and you could tell.”
Not to be outdone, Heard provided the insurance goal in the 63rd minute after winning a duel with the Caps’ Javain Brown and finding daylight alone against ‘keeper Maxime Crépeau. The former Whitecaps FC draft pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft played like a double-shot of Red Bull and espresso for Pacific, throwing his body into challenges and loose balls the way Johnny Knoxville launches himself into Jackass stunts.
And still, the Canadian Championship drama wasn’t over.
Gauld—living up to his reported $3-million salary—sent Vancouver back within a goal just minutes later, sending a Cristian Dájome-assisted header past Callum Irving to keep the pressure on Pacific.
By the time Alejandro Díaz made it 4-2 for Pacific in the 75th minute, you still had the feeling the game could see another two lead changes before the final whistle.1
And that electricity in the crowd? It sounded a lot like the beginning of a B.C soccer rivalry that’s surely far from over.
“This is one club, one island,” said Pacific FC head coach Pa-Modou Kah. “Hopefully with the support today, all the people that were here can see that we’re building something [right here].”
“These are the nights we play for,” added Heard. “Especially after a year-and-a-half of no fans at all … it’s a special feeling to play in front of a crowd like this.”
Still, Kah—never at a loss for words with reporters—couldn’t resist one final declaration:
“B.C. is purple.”
That nearly proved true, as referee Juan Marquez awarded a stoppage time penalty to the Whitecaps, bringing the final score to 4-3 after Cristian Dájome found the back of the net.
Terrific match report Martin! Feel like this is one that we will refer back to years from now; a classic match that will be retold in history books!