The curtain has been raised on another Valour FC season but Act I of 2025 already resembles previous incarnations of Winnipeg’s Canadian Premier League side.

Valour fell 2-nil to Pacific FC Saturday night at Starlight Stadium in Victoria, bringing to a screeching halt all the momentum built up during an impressive preseason. The club will have a couple of weeks to get things right in the upcoming rehearsals before Act II goes April 19th in Hamilton against Forge FC with the home opener scheduled for April 25th against HFX Wanderers.

“Disappointing result, obviously,” said veteran centre back Rocco Romeo in a post-match press conference. “We had really high expectations for the group to start the season off on the front foot with the three points but sometimes football works in mysterious ways and the ball doesn’t really bounce on your side.

“… But I’m proud of the boys for our effort today. To be fair, after the preseason we had it was time we had a bit of adversity, so now is the time where we’re really going to test our character as a group and show what we’re really made of this year.

“It’s only Game 1; 27 more to go. There’s obviously positives to take away and things we can look at once we get back to Winnipeg.”

Valour’s 2025 debut featured a tentative opening 30 minutes, with one mistake ending up in their back of their net after the rebound on a Jonathan Viscosi save was buried by Dario Zanatta in the 18th minute and then a world-class goal by Ronan Klatt — or world-class fortune, depending on your perspective — as he perfectly volleyed home a pass from wide to the far corner of the net.

Actually, words don’t do the finish justice…

GOAL #CanPL. BANGERS. ONLY.

Ronan Kratt fools Jonathan Viscosi with an unbelievable first-time volley to double @PacificFCCPL’s lead!

Watch LIVE on @onesoccer pic.twitter.com/hctgV8MUfU

— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) April 6, 2025

Those mistakes, coupled with Valour’s inability to generate anything substantial at the other end sound familiar as in seasons past, as the club managed just five shots — one on target — and was not threatening on the eight corner kicks won.

“It’s a little bit disappointing because it’s far from the pace we showed in the preseason,” said assistant coach J.B. Pierazzi, who along with Daryl Fordyce and Patrick Di Stefani was calling the shots on the sideline with GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos serving the first of a three-match suspension after picking up a red card in the 2024 finale. “We worked really well during the seven weeks of the preseason and today the team was a little bit shy from the beginning, especially in the first 10 minutes.

“We had only five shots during the whole game which is not good enough. We needed more runs in behind, too, to create that separation from the opposition. We should have been more dangerous.

“Now we just have to go back to work,” he added. “It’s just the first game of the season and it’s a long season. We have to stay positive and just work, work, work to get to where we want to go.”

‘V’ NOTES:
-In addition to Dos Santos being out due to suspension so, too, was fullback Zach Fernandez — sitting out due a suspension from last year when he was with HFX Wanderers.
-The match marked the CPL debuts for Myles Morgan, Bruno Figueiredo, Xavi Venancio and Jevontae Layne, all of whom came on as substitutions in the second half.

Pacific FC 2 Valour FC 0
Goals
Pacific FC
17:28’: Dario Zanatta
29:08′: Ronan Kraft (assist: Christian Greco-Taylor)
Valour FC
None

Card summary
Valour FC
3:37’: Roberto Alarcon (yellow, reckless offence)
24:30′: Rocco Romeo (yellow, tactical foul)
33:23′: Frankie Facchineri (yellow, reckless offence)

Pacific FC
50:42′: Kadin Chung (yellow, tactical foul)
87:10′: Josh Heard (yellow, time wasting)
—
VALOUR STARTING XI (4-2-3-1)
GK – Jonathan Viscosi
D – Roberto Alarcon
D – Rocco Romeo
D – Frankie Facchineri
D – Themi Antonoglou
MF – Raphael Ohin ©
MF – Safwane Mlah
FW – Kian Williams
FW – Jordan Faria
FW – Kris Twardek
F – Shaan Hundal
—
Valour substitutions
61:50’: On Myles Morgan; off Kian Williams
62:01′: On Diogo Ressurreicao; off Jordan Faria
62:21′: On Bruno Figueiredo; off Safwane Mlah
76:05′: On Xavier Venancio; off Kris Twardek
80:54′: On Jevontae Layne; off Shaan Hundal