It’s stretch drive time for Pacific FC, and that means all hands on deck for the Tridents as they gear up for the playoff push and the final 10 games of the Canadian Premier League regular season.
It starts this afternoon on their home turf at Starlight Stadium in Langford against Atletico Ottawa.
“It’s getting to that point now where, with 10 games remaining, we need to stay focused on what we set out to accomplish at the start of the season and the players are motivated to do that,” Pacific FC head coach James Merriman said on a pre-game conference call this week.
“We’ve taken confidence from our last few outings and what we’ve been doing and how we’ve been doing it so we’re all looking forward to these last few weeks.”
That confidence comes from back to back wins for Pacific FC as they’ve re-taken their spot on top of the CPL table with a 9-5-4 (wins-ties-losses) record.
But Atletico Ottawa (7-4-7) is beginning to find its stride, having a win and draw in its last two matches.
“[Atletico Ottawa] have looked very good in their last few performances,” Merriman said.
“And we need to learn from our last game against them at Starlight Stadium [2-2 draw on June 30] where we got caught on a few things, so we need to be more efficient in our play this time around.”
After today’s match, PFC has just three home games remaining, to go with six on the road, making today’s match that more important.
“You always like playing at home. Our training days in our own environment have been very good as you are more used to your daily routines,” Merriman said.
“And it’s always nice playing in front of our great fans, but you also have to be prepared to play when you travel and, for the most part, we have done well in those situations as well.”
Following today’s match, Pacific FC won’t have far to go for their next game as they head to Langley next Saturday to take on Vancouver FC.
