The pulse is strong, the heartbeat vibrant. And as a result Valour FC’s late-season push for a Canadian Premier League playoff spot has both new life and some perfectly-timed momentum.
Winnipeg’s professional soccer side edged Pacific FC 1-nil on a windy, chilly night in front of an announced crowd of 2,702 at Princess Auto Stadium Monday, extending its unbeaten streak to five matches and — just as important — moving to within one point of the fifth and final playoff spot.
Valour improved to 7-6-12 on the season and with 27 points now trails Pacific, which falls to 7-7-11, by just one, with three matches remaining. Vancouver FC is also at 27 points with a 7-6-12 record while HFX Wanderers are at 6-8-11, good for 26 points.
“There’s a lot of emotions out there. We’re on the sideline and we’re living it and I can only imagine the players when they’re inside those four lines,” said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos. “At the end of the day you’re at the time of the season where it’s not about the aesthetic of things and how pretty it looks — it’s about getting the three points. The truth is this: once we got the lead we were able to secure it. The guys fought. The guys demonstrated so much fight and personality in various moments of the game.
“Today it was that — it was about getting the result. We knew if we lost this one today the playoff line would have been at seven and now it’s at one point. There’s moments where you have to do what you have to do. It’s about going out there, fighting, jumping on the scraps and the way the goal comes tells a lot about the type of game it was.”
Indeed in scrappy match with so much drama swirling about, it was an own goal by Pacific that proved to be the difference maker. Valour fullback Themi Antonoglou found space down the left side and played a dangerous ball into the box that was inadvertently deflected by a diving Kevin Ceceri in the 76th minute.
(OWN) GOAL 🦁@ValourFootball HAVE A LATE LEAD! Themi Antonoglou sends a cross in which is deflected by Pacific’s Kevin Ceceri past Emil Gazdov ⚽️
🔴 Watch the #CanPL LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/m0BhmHFNcK
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 1, 2024
“I just wanted to put it in a dangerous area,” said Antonoglou. “I know guys like Jordi (Swibel) and Shaan (Hundal) will get to the end of it and so if I do put it to a dangerous area one of them will go in.”
Valour had 53.2 percent of the possession, five corners and 12 shots, with two on target. The late goal was then helped by Pacific going down a man with Pierre Lamothe earning a second yellow after his cleat made contact with Roberto Alarcon’s head while the Valour defender was down inside the box.
Again, that’s the kind of match it was.
“For us we said it’s about the next play and sticking together knowing there’s going to be adversity,” said Dos Santos. “It was still being able to keep our attention on what’s next.
“The guys stayed in that and that’s most important. There’s a lot of things we need to be better at, to grow from and prepare ourselves for what’s next next.”
Now unbeaten in five with a win and four draws, Valour is also 4-5-2 over its last 11 and playing some outstanding football. The club will play host to Forge FC on Sunday, then travel to Vancouver on October 13th before wrapping up the regular season back at home on October 19th against Cavalry FC.
“It’s good for us. It’s good for our confidence,” said Antonoglou. “It’s good to come into the facility every day knowing that every game we could possibly win. Maybe at the beginning of the year it wasn’t like that. But in the second part of the year we’ve stuck together as a team and we’re grinding out result.”
“I was reminded that you lose two games in the last 11, that’s the run of a team that is aspiring for higher positions in this league,” added Dos Santos. “But it’s all about guys committing to the process, committing to what’s on the line, enjoying it and doing it together.
“That’s what we have here. Our locker room has been unbelievable. The guys just hold on to each other, they believe in each other. It’s not always pretty, but they know they’re in it together. That, for me, is the biggest joy.”
Valour FC 1 Pacific FC 0
Goals
Valour FC
75:33′: Own goal (Kevin Ceceri)
Pacific FC
None
Card summary
Valour FC
48:55’: Roberto Alarcon (yellow, tactical foul)
74:15′: Jonathan Viscosi (yellow, argument)
Pacific FC
47:27’: Pierre Lamothe (yellow, reckless offence)
68:57′: Christian Greco-Taylor (yellow, time wasting)
74:02′: Moses Dyer (yellow, argument)
82:02′ Pierre Lamothe (red; second yellow, reckless offence)
VALOUR STARTING XI (4-4-2)
GK – Jonathan Viscosi
D – Roberto Alarcon
D – Frankie Facchineri
D – Tass Mourdoukoutas (c)
D – Themi Antonoglou
MF – Dante Campbell
MF – Safwane Mlah
MF – Diogo Ressurreição
MF – Jordan Faria
F – Shaan Hundal
F – Loic Kwemi
Valour substitutions
58:31’: On Jordi Swibel; off Jordan Faria
58:36′: On Raphael Ohin; off Safwane Mlah
76:50′: On Abdul Binate; off Loic Kwemi
85:32′: On Jordan Haynes; off Diogo Ressurreição