Match Analysis: Pacific FC 0-2 Atlético Ottawa – CPL Semifinal (Leg 1)

October 15, 2022 – Canadian Premier League (CPL) – Atletico Ottawa News Release

Canadian Premier League

2022 CPL League Champions 2022 CPL Playoffs CPL Playoffs Match Analysis News Pacific FC

Final Score: Pacific FC 0-2 Atlético Ottawa

Goalscorers: Tabla 79, Verhoven, 90+4′

Canadian Premier League Playoffs

Semifinal Leg 1

Match in a minute or less

Another tremendous defensive performance gave Atlético Ottawa the platform to stun Pacific FC in the first leg of their 2022 semifinal tie. Late goals from Ballou Tabla and Zachary Verhoven secured a 2-0 win for Ottawa, their first-ever at Starlight Stadium.

While Pacific controlled most of the ball, Ottawa held them to just two shots on target over 90 minutes. When the hosts did break through, Atleti keeper Nate Ingham made a couple of fantastic stops.

The win gives Ottawa a big advantage heading into the second leg, which will be played next Sunday, October 23, at their home ground TD Place Stadium. It is worth noting that away goals are not in effect, which would have made that advantage even bigger.

Three Observations

Atlético Ottawa returns to the capital with a massive advantage after vintage road performance

Make that nine wins on the year away from home for Atlético Ottawa, who dispelled any questions of whether or not their gameplan and identity would withstand the rigours of the playoffs. After winning the regular season title last week, Atleti made a statement on Saturday night about their intentions to go for the double.

“What we tried to do after the celebration of last weekend was to reset our minds and to forget and to take advantage of the momentum that we have in the team,” said Atleti coach Carlos González, later adding, “I’m happy because we controlled [Pacific] quite well, I’m happy because we punished them in the moments that the game was starting to be a little bit more open.”

The side, who have been called everything from “boring” to “lucky” over the course of this year continue to prove their doubters wrong. It is clear, that even with all of this success, this chip on the team’s shoulder has not gotten any smaller either.

“Everyone was saying we were the least experienced playoff team and that it is a different level, and that we have to rise to the occasion,” said goalkeeper Nate Ingham. “But we felt good coming into it, we have an experienced locker room, we knew we had to raise the level and we knew what we had to do, and we executed our game plan close to perfect. I am…