{"id":42540,"date":"2022-04-11T13:45:17","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T17:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/?p=42540"},"modified":"2022-04-11T13:45:17","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T17:45:17","slug":"pacific-fc-won-starlight-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/04\/11\/pacific-fc-won-starlight-stadium\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific FC won season home opener at Starlight Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>LANGFORD, BC<\/strong> \u2013 Pacific FC won the rematch of the 2021 CPL Final. Pacific FC, the defending North Star Shield champions, face Forge FC, the most successful team in the Canadian Premier League. Hamilton struggled early on in this game. They also had trouble stringing passes together, which helped the team from Langford to win the game.<\/p>\n<h2>Pacific FC won its season home opener at Starlight Stadium<\/h2>\n<h3>Three keys to the game<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Full Game Summary:<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForTheIsle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ForTheIsle<\/a> started the game strongly and had the better scoring opportunities.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForgeFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ForgeFC<\/a> only had two shots on goal. <\/p>\n<p>Forge FC sometimes had trouble putting passes together at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/StarlightStadium?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#StarlightStadium<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PACvFOR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#PACvFOR<\/a> | 2-1 | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CanPL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CanPL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Last Word on Soccer (@LastWordSC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LastWordSC\/status\/1513325394992283648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 11, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>First Half<\/h4>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">5\u2019 The defending <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NorthStarShield?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NorthStarShield<\/a> Champions, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForTheIsle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ForTheIsle<\/a>, opens the scoring! Alejandro D\u00edaz Lice\u00e1ga gets a great pass from Josh Heard and puts the ball into the back of the net! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OneSoccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#OneSoccer<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PACvFOR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#PACvFOR<\/a> | 1-0 | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CanPL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CanPL<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tlECw46uQz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/tlECw46uQz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Last Word on Soccer (@LastWordSC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LastWordSC\/status\/1513299223336431621?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 10, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Pacific was able to break Hamilton&#8217;s defences early in the game. An example would be Josh Heard&#8217;s pass to Alejandro D\u00edaz Lice\u00e1ga, who put the ball into the back of the net.<\/p>\n<p>Manny Aparicio committed a foul in the eighth minute. Diaz got a great pass from Manny Aparicio, but his shot was saved by Forge FC\u2019s Chris Kalongo. Kyle Bekker\u2019s shot in the 20-minute missed the target.<\/p>\n<p>Alessandro Hojabrpour\u2019s shot in the 38-minute missed the target. Forge FC defended the ball well in the 43-minute of play. Number 20 of Forge FC tackled Kunla Dada-Luke of Pacific FC, which almost led to a penalty. Marco Bustos shot was spectacularly saved by Kalongo.<\/p>\n<h4>Second Half<\/h4>\n<p>Kyle Bekker\u2019s shot was off-target in the 50-minute. Forge FC had trouble connecting passes at Starlight Stadium. Amer \u0110idi\u0107 made a great defensive play in the 52-minute. Another great defensive play was made by Langford in the 53-minute of play.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">57\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForTheIsle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ForTheIsle<\/a> scores a second goal following a set-piece! A tremendous cross by Marco Bustos and Amer \u0110idi\u0107 scores with a terrific header. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OneSoccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#OneSoccer<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PACvFOR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#PACvFOR<\/a> | 2-0 | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CanPL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CanPL<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ORRQBaXHkl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ORRQBaXHkl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Last Word on Soccer (@LastWordSC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LastWordSC\/status\/1513314678885294082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 11, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u0110idi\u0107 scored what ended up being the game-winning goal. Bustos played a big part in the goal as his cross was perfect.<\/p>\n<p>Number 20 from Pacific FC made a key defensive clearance to prevent a goal from Hamilton. Pacific almost scored straight after Forge\u2019s chance. Jonathan Grant just crossed the ball out of bounds for Hamilton. Bustos was taken down in the 79-minute, it looked like a foul. Forge was able to get an interception in the 86-minute.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">89\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForgeFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ForgeFC<\/a> gets a goal! Alexander Achinioti-J\u00f6nsson scores as they cut <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForTheIsle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ForTheIsle<\/a>\u2019s lead by half! Kyle Bekker was credited with the assist. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OneSoccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#OneSoccer<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PACvFOR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#PACvFOR<\/a> | 2-1 | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CanPL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CanPL<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/i7JWmsximv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/i7JWmsximv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Last Word on Soccer (@LastWordSC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LastWordSC\/status\/1513324449805873153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 11, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p id=\"firstHeading\" class=\"firstHeading mw-first-heading\">Alexander Achinioti-J\u00f6nsson did get the consolation goal thanks to a Kyle Bekker cross. However, it was too little, too late as Forge only had two shots on goal at Starlight Stadium.<\/p>\n<h3>Pacific FC won the 2022 season home opener<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There\u2019s no better way to start the season than a win in front of the best supporters in the league \ud83d\udfe3\ud83c\udf0a<\/p>\n<p>And the doubters seem to be a lot more silent than they did before \ud83e\udd2b<\/p>\n<p>Back to work preparing for next weekend\u2019s match!<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForTheIsle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ForTheIsle<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PacificFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#PacificFC<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CanPL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CanPL<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PACvFOR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#PACvFOR<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7Nk2Vw0hPX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7Nk2Vw0hPX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Pacific FC (@Pacificfccpl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pacificfccpl\/status\/1513344815852834821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 11, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Pacific FC was the better team. They dominated most of the game and it felt like they had the majority of the scoring chances. Also, Pacific&#8217;s goalkeeper Callum Irving was not really tested in the match against Forge.<\/p>\n<p>Also, \u0110idi\u0107 was able to score his first goal for Pacific after spending three years at FC Edmonton.<\/p>\n<p>This game concludes the opening set of games for each CPL team. The game between Langford and Hamilton was probably the most high-profile one as both teams were in the 2021 Canadian Premier League Final.<\/p>\n<p>This was the first of three straight games for Pacific FC. They will now host Valour FC on Sunday, April 17 at 4:00 p.m. ET and the HFX Wanderers on Saturday, April. 23 at 7:00 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n<p>Forge FC will also be heading home on Saturday, April 16 at 4:00 p.m. ET. They will then also host FC Edmonton on Saturday, April. 23 at 4:00 p.m. ET. Lastly, all the games will be shown live on OneSoccer and Telus.<\/p>\n<h3>Three Takeaways from Pacific FC&#8217;s win:<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">FIRST WIN as head coach? \u2705<\/p>\n<p>New <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pacificfccpl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@PacificFCCPL<\/a> manager James Merriman reflects on his debut <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CanPL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CanPL<\/a> victory, to much cheer from his players \ud83d\udd31<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udd34 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7JFAUhgjL6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/7JFAUhgjL6<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oZkxI368Yq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/oZkxI368Yq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; OneSoccer (@onesoccer) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/onesoccer\/status\/1513326565182124044?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 11, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Forge FC has traditionally not played well in the season opener.<\/strong> As dominant as the two-time North Star Shield Champions have been, they have struggled in opening games. They also did not get that many scoring opportunities, and only had two shots on goal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Starlight Stadium will host two big games in two days.<\/strong> One of them was the season home opener against Forge FC. The next one will take place at 10:30 p.m. ET between the CanWNT and Nigeria. The CanWNT game will be a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/04\/02\/canwnt-celebration-tour-roster\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Celebration Tour<\/a> game celebrating Canada winning the Gold Medal game. The other Celebration Tour game this month was played last Friday at <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/04\/09\/canwnt-dominated-nigeria-bc-place\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">BC Place<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>James Merriman gets his first win as Pacific FC head coach.<\/strong> Merriman, the newly appointed head coach for Pacific, got his <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LastWordSC\/status\/1513324579292389376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1513324579292389376%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flastwordonsports.com%2Fsoccer%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D42540action%3Deditclassic-editor\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">first win as head coach<\/a>. It was also well-deserved as the team from Greater Victoria was the better team at the end of the day.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"B--1oxsdRoN4pumusmVtrw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1234888641\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'B--1oxsdRoN4pumusmVtrw',sig:'0vnfgZI-hZwOOwp2zTT8ykJJit-N5FpWbguqTI_zX4M=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1234888641',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LANGFORD, BC \u2013 Pacific FC won the rematch of the 2021 CPL Final. Pacific FC, the defending North Star Shield champions, face Forge FC, the most successful team in the Canadian Premier League. Hamilton struggled early on in this game. They also had trouble stringing passes together, which helped the team from Langford to win [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3104,"featured_media":42544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2782,2783,2807],"tags":[4635,2791,2950,4906,4908,4907,3922,4025,3923,4893],"class_list":["post-42540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cpl","category-hamilton-forge-fc","category-pacific-fc","tag-alejandro-diaz-liceaga","tag-alexander-achinioti-jonsson","tag-amer-didic","tag-callum-irving","tag-chris-kalongo","tag-james-merriman","tag-josh-heard","tag-kyle-bekker","tag-marco-bustos","tag-starlight-stadium"],"modified_by":"Raheem Bashir, Site Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}