Inter Toronto Football Club kept their undefeated start to 2026 alive on Sunday, as they beat Pacific FC 1-0 at Starlight Stadium.
Peruvian striker Sebastián Gonzales was the goalscoring hero for Toronto, and goalkeeper Diego Urtiaga had to stand on his head to keep the clean sheet, but the Ontario side ultimately saw out another critical early-season win.
The visitors were the more aggressive side in the early stages, and the opening minutes set a tone for physical battle on the narrow Starlight Stadium pitch.
Toronto probed into Pacific's half a few times in the first 10 minutes, and Luca Accettola threatened from a well-worked passing move that defender Josh Belluz cut off just in time.
Pacific, however, came closest to scoring early on; Ronan Kratt, making a run into the box, found himself pulled back by Toronto's Max Ferrari, and Kratt immediately signalled to his coach James Merriman requesting a Football Video Support review.
Merriman's challenge proved successful, and Pacific were awarded a penalty, but Inter Toronto keeper Diego Urtiaga dove perfectly to parry Alejandro Díaz's attempt from the spot.
Díaz, who has scored from the spot nine times in the CPL, had never missed before this game.
Shortly after the penalty save, Toronto re-established control of the game and continued assailing Pacific's box. Accettola again nearly found the net, hitting the post with a shot from 20 yards out.
Pacific did have their share of chances, though. In fact, they made Urtiaga much busier than their own goalkeeper, pulling him into action twice more after the penalty. The Mexican keeper proved up to the task both times, making powerful diving saves to keep it scoreless.
Neither side had managed to find the net by halftime, despite a fairly open game; Toronto had an eight to four advantage in shots, but hadn't put any of them on target. Adding to the visitors' frustration at the interval, three of their players picked up a yellow card in the first half, meaning they'd be walking on eggshells in the second.
Inter Toronto coach Mauro Eustáquio explained that he made a few adjustments to his tactics at halftime which would help them get into more dangerous areas.
"In the first half, especially at the beginning, we were going a bit too direct at times, even though the space was there," he said postgame. "I told them at halftime to compact the lines to be close to each other, because then we would be able to find the other side a lot quicker and a lot safer, so that anxiety of trying to score went away at halftime. We got our lines a lot closer, and then we switched into a 4-3-3; putting another player in midfield allowed us to possess the ball."
Toronto's attack threatened again shortly after they returned to the pitch, but Pacific goalkeeper Eleias Himaras denied Julian Altobelli from point-blank range for his first save of the game.
The game went through a lull for about 15 minutes, but the energy returned after both sides made a handful of substitutions.
Notably, Eustáquio handed a club debut to forward Ariel Almagro, and finally his team fround the breakthrough.
The Ecuadorian didn't need long to introduce himself to the CPL. Less than 10 minutes into his shift at left wing-back, he picked up the ball and curled a well-weighted cross into the box, where Gonzales was in place for a first-time finish at the back post.
A frustrating afternoon got even worse for Pacific not long after that. Defender Juan Quintana, playing his first minutes of the season, got his elbow up in a challenge on Toronto's Juan Córdova and was promptly shown a red card.
With a numerical advantage for the closing stages, Toronto remained firmly in control, dominating possession to see out the win. Pacific had a few final attempts in transition, and an unsuccessful FVS challenge for another penalty, but they weren't able to beat Urtiaga.
So, they improved to an unbeaten 3-2-0 so far this season, hopping into second place prior to Cavalry FC's result later on Sunday evening.
Pacific, meanwhile, remain without a win in 2026, and will now embark on a road swing, with six of their next eight games away from home.
Their coach, James Merriman, agonized postmatch over how close his side has come to better results this year . He suggested that, had Díaz scored the first-half penalty, his team would've been fully in control.
Pacific keeper Himaras echoed the sentiment that, internally, the club feels like a breakthrough is coming.
"I think we're very close," Himaras said. "We're there, it's not far off. That's why I keep saying we're going to continue to work hard, and that this team is resilient, because we know we're there, and we know we can win games. We are, like, right there. It's just finding those moments to finish our chances and then just staying together."
Box Score
Lineups
Pacific FC: Himaras; Chung, Konincks, Belluz, Greco-Taylor (Quintana 60'); Baldisimo (Juhmi 83'), Gomulka; Kratt (Juach 83'), Daniels (Toualy 60'), Bustos (Keshavarz 69'); Díaz
Inter Toronto: Urtiaga; López, Guzmán, León; Ferrari (Almagro 63'), Accettola (Bitar 83'), Yeates, Córdova; Jimoh (Bassett 60'), Gonzales, Altobelli (Kibato 83')
Goals
70' — Sebastian Gonzales (Inter Toronto)
Discipline
15' — Yellow: Max Ferrari (Inter Toronto)
31' — Yellow: Steffen Yeates (Inter Toronto)
45+3' — Yellow: Luca Accettola (Inter Toronto)
66' — Yellow: Julian Altobelli (Inter Toronto)
77' — Red: Juan Quintana (Pacific FC)
82' — Yellow: Carlos Guzmán (Inter Toronto)
90+4' — Yellow: Gabriel Bitar (Inter Toronto)
90+10' — Yellow: Eleias Himaras (Pacific FC)
CPLSoccer.com Player of the Match
Diego Urtiaga, Inter Toronto
The Toronto keeper was excellent for the visitors, keeping them in the game repeatedly. He stopped Alejandro Diaz's penalty early in the game, then went on to make four more outstanding saves en route to a clean sheet.
What’s next?
Next weekend, Inter Toronto head to the opposite coast, where they'll play the Halifax Wanderers on Saturday, May 23 (3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT). On Sunday, May 24, Pacific FC head to Alberta to take on Cavalry FC (5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT).
For broadcast details of the 2026 CPL season, go to cplsoccer.com/watch.