Monday, July 1, 2019 ~ LANGFORD
by Mary Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
The July 1 Canada Day soccer game at Westhills Stadium in Langford today under bright blue skies was an upbeat conclusion to the Spring season for the Pacific FC home team.
Pulling off a 3-1 win over Cavalry FC who are the Canadian Professional League (CPL) Spring-season victors produced a buzz for the fans, but also for the coach and players. It was a home game to be remembered for going from what seemed flatline in the first half, to high-energy in the second.
“We wanted to stick to our ways of doing it,” said Pacific FC coach Michael Silberbauer after the spring finale game. “We obviously need to get into the back of net. Today they showed a lot of character,” said Silberbauer in the post-game scrum with media.
How did he like Pacific FC getting three goals today? Great, of course, but emphasized the work of the overall performance. “Cavalry is a really hard team to beat. Everything is in the detail. Just one goal can make the difference. If Nolan hadn’t been on his toes, it could have been 2-2. It’s about those details and they took good care of that today,” Silberbauer said with pride about his team.
“At times today was a little bit too slow. Cavalry is compact and organized. If you have a resiliency like Cavalry you can’t have a fest from minute one,” said Silberbauer. Sometimes it takes time until things pick up, he explained.
“We were connecting. We found that goal and it led to more success in the final third. Overall it was a very good performance, collectively,” said goalkeeper Nolan Wirth. A good sleep and a good breakfast really helps for Wirth, he told media. “Lots of water and rest for Saturday!”
There was a first professional goal scored by Amed Alghamdi today, fresh out of high school on the mainland last month where he played soccer for three years (Grades 10 to 12). That was 48 minutes into the game. “I’ve been working hard for a long time, and it’s starting to pay off,” said Alghamdi, who is still just 17 years old.
How is pro soccer action compared to high school? “You have to be much faster, think quicker, run, work hard, and your stamina and touches have to improve,” said Alghamdi. “Everything is at a much higher level,” he rattled off quickly.
Victor Blasco produced a goal for Pacific FC at 76 minutes. A nice touch for Blasco on his 25th birthday today. “We’re a young team, and play a certain way that sometimes is great but sometimes it can be hard. But we’re feeling good,’ he said.
“We were playing with so many injuries, but in that way we’re the luckiest team. Even with injuries of key players, we just keep going the way we want to play, with personality and with so many young guys,” said Blasco. He added: “And the fans were great today. It’s looking good.”
Issey Nakajima-Farran also scored a goal for the Pacific FC team — the last of the game, right near the end at 97 minutes on the game clock. It made for an exciting conclusion for the relatively small crowd.
Afterward, Nakajima-Farran who has a graceful European way of movement, said he feels the impact on his body more now at age 30 and was looking forward to rehydrating this evening. But he loves the game.
Cavalry FC player Joel Waterman was chosen as one of three key performers of today’s game, “Clean in all his touches, he won 86% of his duels, and led his team in passes in the attacking half. It was just one of those games where everything Waterman touched was resolute and calming,” wrote Pacific FC on their website this evening.
Pacific FC selected also Nolan Wirth and Victor Blasco from the Pacific FC team as ‘key performers’ of this Canada Day game.
Cavalry FC coach Tommy Wheeldon, Jr spoke with media after the game. “There was an opportunity to rest some plays and give others a chance. Some of them took it, some of them didn’t. We like to play,” said the high-profile successful coach. “Today was Pacific’s day, they got to enjoy that win,” said Wheeldon, adding that they’ll be back on July 6 for the first game of the Fall season at Westhills Stadium. “We’re tough to play against,” he said with his trademark confidence.
The Calgary-based team will be back again to Langford on July 6: “We want to go home,” says the Cavalry FC coach.
“We get to bring the squad back together again. Sometimes you have to taste that defeat. It makes sure the lads don’t take it for granted. We won the spring for a reason, because we’re the best team over 10 games. That doesn’t change,” said Wheeldon.
Pacific FC managed to draw out 2,781 people to the stadium today, competing for Canada Day crowds doing many other things around the region including community events, camping, barbecues, or just enjoying a long weekend Monday in the sun.
Other games at Westhills Stadium this season have surpassed the 4,000 mark for ticket sales. More bleachers are under construction, adding to the stadium capacity another 1,000 seats in time for the August 24 Pacific FC game.
The July 6 game will have a Pride theme, which the Pacific FC organizers are excited about presenting to the community.