Another busy weekend of Canadian Premier League action will conclude on Vancouver Island, as Pacific FC hosts Cavalry FC at Starlight Stadium on Sunday.
A battle between first and last place in the CPL table, don't be fooled by where these teams find themselves in the standings, as it's expected to be a close game despite that.
While 36 points separate first-place Cavalry and last-place Pacific, they both enter this match in good form, as Cavalry enter this game undefeated in their last seven games, while Pacific have lost just once in their last six games.
In particular, Pacific's form is noteworthy given what they've been through as of late, as they most recently won their first game of 2026 after a lengthy wait, showing the strides they've taken under new manager Terry Dunfield in recent weeks.
Since his Pacific head coaching debut at the end of July, Pacific are top in the CPL in xG for and third in xG against, putting up those numbers while becoming one of the most fun teams to watch across the league.
They've still got a lot of work to do to clean up their game, as they're not finishing their chances as often as they'd like and are still leaking goals defensively, but they've carved out an identity as a team that isn't fun for opponents to play against, and one that is fun for fans to watch.
Because of that, it'll be fascinating to see how they can match up against this Cavalry side, as it'll be a great test of the work they've done since Dunfield's arrival, given that the last meeting between these two teams came all the way back in May.
You add in that Pacific are looking to avoid being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention this weekend, and you have to imagine they'll leave it all on the field against this Cavalry side.
Speaking of Cavalry, they'll enter this game with a simple objective: keep their winning ways going.
Not only are they undefeated in their last seven games, but they've won six of those matches, which is how they've been able to leapfrog Forge at the top of the table.
As a result, they now lead the race for the CPL Shield by four points with eight games to go, and are on the verge of securing a playoff spot.
Yet, they can thank their overall play for that, as they lead the league in goals with 40 and have conceded just 12 goals, showing why they're so hard to beat.
Against a Pacific team that has conceded a league-high 42 goals, you have to imagine Cavalry will feel capable of adding a few more goals to their tally, but they'll want to be careful defensively, considering Pacific have scored more than three goals twice in their last three games.
Yet, that shows that at the very least, this should be an entertaining game, with Pacific expecting to use this game as a test of what they're capable of against top opposition, and Cavalry wanting to keep their good form going.
NEWS & NOTES
- Cavalry can book a playoff spot with a win or draw - and their spot might already be booked before this game kicks off if Inter Toronto and FC Supra du Québec fail to win their games this weekend
- Pacific, meanwhile, will be eliminated from playoff contention if they fail to win and if Vancouver FC beats that result
- Pacific's Christian Greco-Taylor and Cavalry's Harry Paton and Adam Pearlman are all one yellow card away from an accumulation suspension
- These two sides are among the three sides yet to hit the 2000-minute threshold that CPL sides are required to provide for U21 Canadian players, with Pacific at 1802 minutes and Cavalry sitting at 1580 minutes.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Pacific FC: Himaras; Chung, Quintana, Konincks, Greco-Taylor; Gomulka, Juhmi; Bustos, Daniels, Toualy; Kratt
Cavalry FC: Ingham; Pearlman, Klomp, Didić, Kamdem Fewo; Paton, Camargo; Myroniuk, Henry, Edwards; Warschewski
KEY QUOTES
"We've had another two really good performances away from home. We need to turn those into wins, yes, but that's five points from our last three games, and if we're able to keep that level of consistency over a full season, that would have us finishing at third." -- Pacific FC head coach Terry Dunfield"
"They've obviously had a bit of a new manager bounce, so you can see that they're hungrier than they were. Losing becomes habitual, so I think they needed that change of vision, mentality, and I think that's clear that that's happened. We expect their best game, but at this stage of the season, that's what you want, you want everybody's best game, because if we want to achieve great things, you want to play the best version of everyone's selves." -- Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.