Kickoff kicks off at IG Field

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This article was published 26/06/2021 (1565 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Zach Collaros takes two steps forward into the pocket to scramble, but sees two Calgary Stampeders close the gap, forcing him to turn around.

He sprints back over 10 yards as another set of defenders attempt to chase him down, before finally turning his body and firing a pass to Darvin Adams in the back corner of the end zone for a Winnipeg Blue Bombers touchdown.

The miraculous touchdown pass sent nearly 25,000 fans into a craze.

The date was Oct. 25, 2019, as Collaros’ heroics in his first start with the Blue and Gold led the team to a 29-28 victory over Calgary in dramatic fashion to close out the regular season.

IG Field hasn’t heard the roar of a crowd since.

But the building wasn’t completely silent Saturday as for the first time in 611 days, IG Field was the home of a professional sports game.

The 2021 Canadian Premier League is officially underway as The Kickoff — the name of the Winnipeg bubble — kicked off in the afternoon with Atlético Ottawa beating FC Edmonton 1-0 followed by Pacific FC handing HFX Wanderers FC a 2-0 loss. Prior to the first match, there was a ceremony to honour residential school victims. Players and staff also wore orange shirts saying ‘Every Child Matters.’

Unlike the last time two teams battled it out in the stadium located on the University of Manitoba campus, there wasn’t a fan in sight.

Víctor Martínez Manrique scored the game winner for Ottawa in the 82nd minute to the sound of crickets.

“We need to play in front of fans. Obviously, not playing in front of fans, there’s no extra excitement. There’s no extra passion. It’s like a training game. The only difference is we’re playing for three points,” said Edmonton coach Alan Koch post-game.

“It’s nice to play in a nice big stadium, but like most things in life, when people aren’t around, it’s not the same. We cannot wait to have fans back in the stands as soon as possible.”

Many are predicting Atlético Ottawa will be one of the strongest teams during The Kickoff as they spent nine weeks at the pre-season training facility of their parent club Atlético de Madrid. The returned to Ottawa at the beginning of June and quarantined for two weeks before doing their final preparations for the trip to Winnipeg.

Ottawa head coach Mista said it’s not fair to say his club’s training perks give them an advantage over the rest of the league.

“We aren’t the only team that could train that could train in the last three months. The only teams that couldn’t was Forge (Hamilton) and York (Toronto). The rest of the teams, maybe Valour, they had some restrictions, but it’s not true,” Mista said.

“I think everyone had the same opportunities to train… I’m sorry for the teams from Ontario I know it was very difficult they couldn’t do their work, but, I think that’s no excuse.”

Pacific and Halifax had their patience tested as their match got pushed back by 30 minutes to 4:30 p.m. because of lightning in the area. But the delay didn’t slow down Winnipeg native Marco Bustos as the attacking midfielder split two defenders and drilled a shot into the bottom corner with his left foot to give Pacific a 1-0 advantage 16 minutes in. To celebrate the goal, Bustos went to the sidelines and raised the jersey of teammate Victor Blasco who is currently away from the team as he’s back home in Spain due to the death of his father.

The lightning threat ended up returning to the area shortly thereafter forcing the game to be paused at the 33 minute mark. More than 30 minutes later, the match finally resumed and Ollie Bassett had a magnificent strike from outside the box to put Pacific up 2-0 in the 36th minute.

Before halftime, Halifax manager Stephen Hart wasn’t feeling well and was carted off the pitch by paramedics and did not return. The league provided an update after the match saying Hart is now feeling fine but was put through some tests for precautionary reasons. Assistant coach Mesut Mert took over for the Wanderers on the sideline.

“It definitely threw everybody a little off and you could see it. The game’s happening and this is in the back of your mind,” Mert said.

“It was a tough situation for everybody to refocus and get everybody on the same page but credit to the players. I think coming into the second half, we showed that and we need to make sure we build from that. The message to the players at halftime was Stephen is doing well and you could see the stress and tension release from the players and I think that gave everyone a little calmness.”

Valour sign Cuban midfielder

Valour FC announced on Saturday the signing of 26-year-old Cuban midfielder Andy Baquero.

He is currently inside the bubble with the team.

Baquero has three goals in 27 appearances with Cuba’s senior national team. He played professionally for Delfines del Este FC (LDF Banco Popular) in 2019, totalling three goals and two assists in nine appearances.

Valour open the season today at IG Field at 1 p.m. in a meeting with two-time defending champions Forge FC.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31