RECAP + HIGHLIGHTS: Pacific FC 2-0 Valour FC (April 5, 2025)

Pacific FC opened their 2025 Canadian Premier League season on a winning note Saturday, as they beat Valour FC 2-0 at Starlight Stadium in the last match of an opening day tripleheader. 

That continues a strong run of opening-day games for Pacific, who have now won their first game of the season five years in a row, and have an all-time record of 6W-1D-0L in their season openers. 

After an even start to the match, Pacific found an early marker in just the 18th minute. Following a nice run from Ronan Kratt, who latched onto the end of a Josh Heard through ball, he fired a dangerous shot right at Jonathan Viscosi, and all Viscosi could do was parry the ball right to an onrushing Dario Zanatta, who slotted into an empty net from close range to give his team the 1-0 lead. 

Soon after, Zanatta almost had a brace in the 29th minute, as he got on the end of a dangerous Kadin Chung shot, but his header would be saved by Viscosi, who used his quick feet to get himself in front of the powerful attempt and parry it out for a corner. 

Pacific would find their second just minutes later, however. After a bit of chaos in midfield, the ball fell to Christian Greco-Taylor, who fired a hopeful ball towards Kratt on the right wing. There, instead of taking a touch, Kratt decided to take the shot on first time, and he caught it perfectly, looping it over Viscosi and into the top corner of the goal for an early goal-of-the-season candidate. 

Continuing their strong start, Pacific almost made it three right before half time, as Marco Bustos cut inside and fired a shot from distance, almost sneaking it past Viscosi, who had to get down quickly to keep his team in the game before the break. 

Despite the break, Pacific didn't show any signs of wanting to slow down in the second half, as they chased for that third goal. They almost found it in the 58th minute, as Kratt came close to finding a brace, doing well to nearly squeeze a low header past Viscosi, who made an excellent save. 

Then, in the 63rd minute, Greco-Taylor almost added a goal to his earlier assist, firing what appeared to be a goalbound shot from close range, but that shot would be deflected over by Valour's Rocco Romeo on a nice defensive play. 

Eager to get back into the game, Valour mounted a late push, as they tried to get something out of this one. As a result, they had a good look in the 85th minute via a volley from Jevontae Layne that was saved nicely by Pacific's Max Anchor, and had a few other good looks at goal, but were unable to breach Pacific's target. 

As a result, Pacific were able to cruise to victory, allowing them to bank three crucial points to start their season. 

BOX SCORE

Lineups 

Pacific FC: Anchor; Chung, Quintana, Machado (Lajeunesse 65'), Greco-Taylor; Browning Lagerfeldt (Keshavarz 70'), Young; Kratt (de Pauli 65'), Bustos (Mukumbilwa 88'), Zanatta; Heard (Toualy 88')

Valour FC: Viscosi; Alarcón, Romeo, Facchineri, Antonoglou; Mlah (Figueiredo 63'), Ohin; Twardek (Venâncio 77'), Williams (Morgan 63'), Faria (Ressurreição 63'); Hundal (Layne 82')

Goals

18' -- Dario Zanatta (Pacific FC)

30' -- Ronan Kratt (Pacific FC)

Discipline

4' -- Yellow: Roberto Alarcón (Valour FC)

25' -- Yellow: Rocco Romeo (Valour FC)

34' -- Yellow: Gianfranco Facchineri (Valour FC)

51' -- Yellow: Kadin Chung (Pacific FC)

88' -- Yellow: Josh Heard (Pacific FC)