| Cavalry FC vs. Pacific FC May 24 at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT ATCO Field in Calgary, Alta. Watch Live: OneSoccer Tickets available here |
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A new era begins for Pacific FC this weekend as they travel to Calgary; for the first time in club history, they'll head on the road without James Merriman.
The longtime head coach, who had been with the organization in some capacity since before their first game in 2019, departed Pacific on Thursday, and assistant Yiannis Tsalatsidis will take charge of Sunday's match against Cavalry FC.
Tsalatsidis will have a particularly tough first challenge, against a Cavalry side that remains undefeated through six weeks to begin 2026.
Tommy Wheeldon Jr. — who is familiar with Tsalatsidis, having hired him as a remote analyst at Cavalry back in 2021 — has his team running smoothly, with a 4-2-0 record and 14 points. They entered the weekend just two points behind Forge FC for top spot in the table.
A week ago, the Cavs banked a professional win away from home, beating Vancouver FC 2-0 thanks to a couple of ruthless moments.
The Tridents, meanwhile, will hope for better fortunes in this meeting with Cavalry, after losing twice to them already this year. Pacific lost 2-1 against Cavalry in Matchweek 1, then 3-1 to the same opponent in their first TELUS Canadian Championship match earlier this month.
Pacific sit at the bottom of the CPL table with no wins so far. An 0-1-5 record means they're in an early rut, desperately needing some results.
Club captain Josh Heard addressed the media on Friday, asserting that the team's problems this season cannot be pinned solely on one person. He called for the whole team, himself included, to be accountable for how things have been going so they can turn the campaign around.
"We have some really good players, and we have a lot of potential, and I think once it comes together it can be a really special thing, but I think right now we're lacking a little belief," Heard added. "We need to find some belief, and with that belief, it can be very powerful when we all buy into it. That's the biggest thing right now, we need to find our mojo."
Playing Cavalry at ATCO Field will be no mean feat for the Tridents, but they'd love nothing more than to begin this new chapter with a positive result.
NEWS & NOTES
- Pacific FC parted ways with head coach James Merriman, who had been in charge since 2022 (and an assistant coach each of the three prior seasons). Yiannis Tsalatsidis will manage his first professional game on Sunday, having taken over on an interim basis.
- Pacific defender Juan Quintana will miss this game with a suspension after a straight red card last weekend. Captain Josh Heard's suspension is now over, so he is eligible to return.
- Cavalry's only reported absence is Maël Henry, who has travelled to Charlotte, N.C. to join the Canadian men's national team's pre-World Cup camp as a training player.
- Cavalry announced this week they have signed defender Luc Ihama to a CPL-U SPORTS contract. He will be available for selection on Sunday.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Cavalry FC: Ingham; Pearlman, Klomp, Didić, Laing; Paton, Kobza; Musse, Camargo, Ntignee; Warschewski
Pacific FC: Himaras; Chung, Konincks, Belluz, Greco-Taylor; Bustos, Baldisimo, Gomulka; Toualy, Díaz, Kratt
KEY QUOTES
"I think we need to be a bit more organized. We're not giving up much, I think last year we gifted a bit too many errors. We're now punishing teams when we get chances, whether that be on set plays, transition, open play. I'm happy with that, and I'm still excited to have a run at home, where the attackers can be on the front foot a little bit more, and we're just waiting for them to start popping off a bit more." - Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
"We've been in our process, and we're making marginal gains every week, but of course the results have not gone our way. Now, when you're in the head coach position, you can accelerate some of that movement. We're going to be a team that's going to be very variable. I like to have players with a lot of autonomy, and with shared intentions. There's going to be certain game states, where we're going to play direct, there's going to be certain game states where we have a more relational game idea, and we'll keep the ball on one side, look to create some dynamic incisions. There's this shift between a positional game and a dynamic game that we've been building toward." - Pacific FC interim head coach Yiannis Tsalatsidis
