| Pacific FC vs. Halifax Wanderers Aug. 30 at 3 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. AT Starlight Stadium in Langford, BC. Watch Live: OneSoccer Tickets available here |
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The final game of this Canadian Premier League matchday comes out on Vancouver Island, as Pacific FC hosts the Halifax Wanderers in a Coastal Clash at Starlight Stadium on Sunday.
Heading into their fourth and final meeting of the 2026 regular season, the Wanderers have so far had the edge over Pacific in the season series, picking up two wins and earning a draw.
Because of that, they'll enter this game confident of their ability to earn a third win, one that would be massive for them in the context of their season.
Heading into the weekend, they were just seven points behind fourth-place Vancouver FC after beating Vancouver at home last weekend, so they'll hope to narrow that gap to four points if they can pick up a win and if Vancouver loses to Cavalry on Saturday.
If they're to get that win, though, they'll have to beat a different Pacific side than the one they faced in their last meeting, which came back in early July.
The results might not be there for Pacific right now, who are still searching for their first win of the 2026 season, but they've had an uptick in their performances lately.
Since the arrival of head coach Terry Dunfield at the end of July, they've put together five decent performances under his tutelage, earning two draws across those games.
Now, the last thing for them to achieve is to earn that victory, one that would boost their confidence in a big way.
Certainly, there'd be no better way to earn that victory than with a big performance at home, too, helping show their fans the progress they've made in recent games.
Slowly but surely, their defensive numbers are getting better, as they've conceded just four goals in their last three games, but they just need to find a spark in attack, having scored only two goals across that three-game span, something they'd like to change on Sunday.
Halifax, meanwhile, are just hunting for more consistency in their game.
All season long, they're yet to win back-to-back games, something they can change in this matchup.
Having snapped a five-game winless run to beat Vancouver, it would certainly send a message to be able to follow up that victory with a road win, that's for sure.
Given that all of the Wanderers' victories have come against the two CPL teams from British Columbia, they'll be more comfortable than most on this lengthy trip, which they hope will give them an advantage.
It's never easy to win away in the CPL, though, so the Wanderers will keep that in mind as they chase a crucial road victory.
NEWS & NOTES
- Pacific FC head coach Terry Dunfield will miss this game due to yellow card accumulation
- Halifax Wanderers midfielder Lucas Olguin is one yellow card away from an accumulation suspension
- The Wanderers have hit the 2000-minute threshold that each team is required to provide to U21 Canadian players, and sit second in the CPL behind Atlético Ottawa in that category with 2125 minutes.
- The Wanderers acquired forward Nelson Pierre on loan from the Vancouver Whitecaps this week
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Pacific FC: Himaras; Chung, Quintana, Belluz, Greco-Taylor; Piepgrass, Gomulka; Kratt, Daniels, Toualy; Hundal
Halifax Wanderers: Carducci; Alphonse, Meilleur-Giguère, Linder, Telfer; Callegari, Olguin, Zitman; Arilla, Johnston; Bahamboula
KEY QUOTES
"I think everyone is focused on getting better every day, focused on getting that first win, focused on keeping our season alive mathematically. We have a three-game mission ahead of this run of games; we know what our target is for Halifax, for Ottawa and for Toronto." -- Pacific FC head coach Terry Dunfield
"We are doing well in that sense to create space and to bring the ball in the box. Again, we need to be better when we try to finalize actions, but I'm really happy with the quality of the game that we are developing, as that's something that in the last 6, 7, 8 games that we've improved. To be honest, I think the quality of our games in the build-up and bringing the ball there is really good." -- Halifax Wanderers head coach Vanni Sartini