Match #27

VANCOUVER FC (7-7-12) vs. VALOUR FC (7-6-13)

When: Sunday, October 13th, 4 p.m. CDT
Where: Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C.

MATCH PREVIEW:

They survived an early-season scheduling nightmare, a rash of injuries and the challenges to find chemistry and cohesion while searching for a consistent starting XI.

And through all that Valour FC have somehow managed to put themselves into a position so many thought would have been impossible back in April/May: with a chance to secure the first-ever playoff berth in franchise history.

Valour FC is on the road to the west coast this weekend with a Sunday afternoon match against Vancouver FC which has been dubbed the biggest in the five-year existence of the club. A win would push Valour ahead of Vancouver FC into sixth place in the Canadian Premier League standings — one point behind Pacific FC after they knocked off York United FC Thursday night. A draw would keep their hopes alive — although they’d need Vancouver to drop points in their final match and for Pacific to lose by a heavy margin with goal differential being the tiebreaker — heading into the regular-season finale against Cavalry FC at Princess Auto Stadium on October 19th.

A loss would eliminate them entirely.

So, yeah, it’s a big match.

“Everyone knows what the standings are and the implications of this game. We’re going out to win the game and if we do that, we still have a good chance to make history for Valour,” said forward Shaan Hundal, who is tied with Jordi Swibel for the team lead in goals with seven. “We’d put ourselves in a comfortable spot with a win.

“At this point it’s all about us. We’ve played Vancouver three times now so we know them well and I was there last year and so I know them really well. We’re just going out there to put into play the plan Phil (Dos Santos, GM and head coach) has for us and get the three points out of it. Nothing less.

“This is the biggest game in club history. We’ve been in this kind of mode for a while now and that’s why everyone is excited for this. This will be like playing in a final because it really means something.”

Valour is coming off a 1-nil loss to CPL powerhouse Forge FC last weekend, a match in which they started tentatively, gave up the only goal in the 36th minute and then pushed for the equalizer.

The squad has just three losses in its last 12 with four wins and five draws but the margin for error is so thin now it really has to be victory or bust.

“We can’t sugar-coat it — this is a big game,” said Dos Santos. “When you realize that you cope with it better. You go through the week knowing the urgency and importance and the details you need to take care of in order to be successful.

“We put ourselves in this position. There were moments earlier this season where this would have seemed far-fetched. Now the truth is we’re going to play a game where we can then have a home finale with still a chance to move across the (playoff) line. The other reality is a loss puts you out of it.

“This is a moment to be excited about. These big games are why you are in sports. We can’t fear that and just go out our business.”

THE OTHER GUYS:

3 Facts about Vancouver FC:

• Vancouver is in the midst of a six-game winless streak with two draws against four losses and have won just one win and one draw in their last eight home matches.
• Vancouver has scored 13 times in 13 home matches, including just four times in their last eight home games.
• According to Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic of canpl.ca, Vancouver will be without Elage Bah (red-card suspension), former Valour forward Austin Ricci (yellow card accumulation suspension) and Mikaël Cantave due to international duty, with Kadin Chung a game-time decision after missing the last few games.

VALOUR FC SPOTLIGHT:

#30, Themi Antonoglou, fullback: He’s been the club’s best and most-consistent player all season and they’ll need him to be dynamic again on Sunday against Vancouver. A dangerous player up and down the flank, he is adept at delivering dangerous balls into the box for his teammates and outstanding on set pieces.

CRITICAL NUMBER

1,835

Valour’s U-21 minutes total with two matches remaining. All CPL clubs must hit the 2,000 U-21 threshold, meaning they’ll need 165 minutes from some combination of Abdul Binate, Juan-Pablo Sanchez or Joe Hanson (currently battling an injury) to hit that mark.

All-Time: Valour FC vs. Vancouver FC

Overall: (win-draw-loss): 2-3-2

Last meeting: August 25th, 2024, Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg — Valour FC 1 Vancouver FC 2