Struggling sides set to clash

Pacific FC in Winnipeg to face Valour

By: Taylor Allen Posted: 9:00 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 19, 2019

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Both Valour FC and Pacific FC head into tonight’s soccer match with some nasty streaks they’d love to put an end to.

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Both Valour FC and Pacific FC head into tonight’s soccer match with some nasty streaks they’d love to put an end to.

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This article was published 19/06/2019 (2616 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Both Valour FC and Pacific FC head into tonight’s soccer match with some nasty streaks they’d love to put an end to.

For Valour, they’re long overdue for a breakout game on offence. The two teams met on May 1 in Victoria, which was Valour’s inaugural match in the new Canadian Premier League, with the Winnipeg side coming away with a 2-1 victory. But in the eight games Valour has played since, they haven’t scored two or more goals in a single match.

“I’d have slid-tackle him, and said, ‘Are you kiddin’ me? Look at all the attacking talent we’ve got. Look at the chances we’re gonna create.’ And I’ll still say the same now,” Valour head coach Rob Gale said on Wednesday, when asked how he’d react if he was told his team wouldn’t score more than once in a match since.

photos by PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Valour FC’s Raphael Ohin (left) challenges HFX Wanderers FC’s Elliot Simmons. — photos by PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Valour FC’s Raphael Ohin (left) challenges HFX Wanderers FC’s Elliot Simmons.

“We don’t believe it. We feel we’re on the tipping point. We have absolute belief. Look at that Halifax game. How we don’t score is beyond me. There’s going to be a game where they take that step forward and stride over that line and the belief comes and we get multi-goal games. And when we do that, they’ll know the formula and we can build off that. We’re expecting that to come, and we’re hoping it’s tomorrow night.”

As for Pacific, they enter tonight’s 7 p.m. tilt at IG Field with a 1-4-2 record. They haven’t won a game since their season-opener on April 28, a 1-0 win against HFX Wanderers FC.

Gale said he’s surprised to see where Pacific sits in the standings, as prior to the season many people thought their attacking unit of Marcus Haber, Ben Fisk and Issey Nakajima-Farran was the best in the league. But yet, after nine games between CPL play and Canadian Championship competition, Pacific has only found the back of the net six times. Valour isn’t much better, as they’ve scored seven times in nine games.

“They’re like us. They’re coming together,” Gale said before Wednesday’s training session at IG Field.

“They’re six, seven games into the league… they’re looking to find their own consistency and getting to know each other. They’re a complete new franchise, like ourselves, finding their identity and their culture. And a lot of young boys in there. That’s what you’ve got to love.

“They’ve stuck to their identity, West Coast, young players and they’re getting better with each game.”

If Gale’s squad is going to improve on its 3-4-0 CPL record, it’s going to have to do it without midfielder Michael Petrasso and forward Stephen Hoyle, both ruled out of tonight’s home game with groin injuries. With veteran Croatian midfielder Josip Golubar already out for the season with a torn ACL, Valour have been forced to play without some of their most experienced players, and the growing pains have been showing lately.

Valour have dropped three games in a row, including both legs of their Canadian Championship matchup with the Wanderers.

More than ever, Valour needs to rely on the veterans in the lineup, such as 26-year-old Adam Mitter, who has played on 14 clubs in eight countries during his career. It also wouldn’t hurt to get more contributions from players you’d least expect to contribute, such as Winnipegger Raphael Ohin, who is playing in his first season as a pro. Ohin started the previous two games and was one of the few bright spots for Valour.

“Yeah, but I mean it’s giving people a chance, you know,” Mitter said about the team’s bad luck with injuries. “As soon as one man goes down, the next man is ready to step up — and that’s the character and the belief that Rob’s instilled into the squad. Everybody knows if somebody goes down, there’s somebody in the wings waiting to take their place and it’s up to them to keep their place. And that’s what this young man (Ohin) next to me has done. He’s got a chance and he took it. Now he’s only looking upwards.”

Valour FC’s Adam Mitter heads the ball over HFX Wanderers FC’s Akeem Garcia. Mitter feels Valour are ready for a breakout game.

The good news for Valour is they’re expected to welcome back defender and co-captain Skylar Thomas to the lineup after he missed the past two games with a lower-body injury.

The bad news is Cavalry FC beat the Wanderers 2-1 on Wednesday night to keep their perfect record alive at 7-0-0. The win officially eliminated Valour from the spring title chase, as it’s only a 10-game season. But Mitter said there’s a lot to play for, as the 18-game fall season is right around the corner. Should Cavalry, or Forge FC, who are still barely alive at 5-2-1, claim the spring crown, they will earn a spot in the CPL’s championship game. If the same team wins both the spring and fall seasons, they will square off against the team with the highest cumulative points total across both halves.

“We want to win games,” Mitter said. “There’s no better feeling than getting a run of games. If we win the next three games, it gives us that advantage to go into the fall season. So, if we win the next three, then we’re on to the fall season with a positive mindset. As Rob said in his press conference, we’re only around the corner. We’re right on top of it.

“We’re going to start scoring goals, we’re going to start defending corners, we’re going to start keeping clean sheets. It’s only a matter of time. So, it’s only a matter of time and I feel like these three games we can use them to solidify what we’re about and then we can move forward into the fall season and be a formidable opponent.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

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Ohin brightens outlook

The team is still struggling to score, but what’s worse has been their inability to stop the opposition from scoring on set pieces. Forge FC scored two goals on corner kicks in the final 10 minutes on Saturday to steal a 2-1 victory over Valour. In the game before that, which was the second leg of the Canadian Championship matchup against HFX Wanderers FC on June 12, Valour was playing some of their best soccer of the season. But Halifax took control of the game as they scored on a free kick just outside the box on an awkward angle before going on to win 2-0.

But there has been at least one positive for Valour in the past two games — the emergence of midfielder Raphael Ohin. Ohin, who’s originally from Ghana but moved to Winnipeg three years ago, started the season at the end of the bench. But with the team battling injuries and looking for a spark, head coach Rob Gale inserted Ohin into the starting lineup, and you would never be able to tell the 23-year-old is a rookie in the world of professional soccer.

“We are developing players. We are developing the team,” Gale said. “So, we have to know it’s not just going to be a smooth trajectory. But what you want is what Raph’s shown, is when he gets the opportunity that he takes it. He’s showing he’s learned those understandings, he’s showing the discipline on his game, he’s quicker on the ball. Because he is making the jump up on his career from where he’s been the last couple of years. And that’s all you can ask for. That when they get the opportunity, you open the door for them, they walk through it and take that. Hopefully a couple more of them can do that now.”

Ohin, who starred in USL League Two for WSA Winnipeg the past couple of seasons, said it’s been a great learning experience starting from the bottom and working his way up.

“I just kept saying my time will come,” Ohin said. “When you go out there and fans, people that see you, keep asking you questions. The only thing I told them was ‘Hey, only 11 people can play on the field, so you just have to be a little patient.’ The coach, obviously, knows more than you do. He can see the game more than you can see it. So, he knows when the right time is to bring you in, and I feel like this is the right time for me.”

— Taylor Allen

Taylor Allen
Reporter