Round 14 CanPL Power Rankings: Pacific Riding a Wave

Between the massive boost of beating the Vancouver Whitecaps (and costing Marc Dos Santos his job) in the Canadian Championship and following it by beating Valour FC three days later, Pacific FC looks like they could be the team to beat at this point.

To top it off, both games came without the services of MVP-candidate Marco Bustos as he gets over a knock. Pacific sits atop the Canadian Premier League Standings again, and are really coming into form with Wero Diaz and Terran Campbell also providing offensive fireworks of late.

A number of derby battles took place this week, with Forge triumphing over their Ontario rivals Atletico Ottawa and York United, while a late Joe Mason goal saw the spoils shared in an Al Classico battle in Calgary. Here’s how we here at Waking The Red see the teams right now.

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1 - Pacific FC - Record - 8-4-3 28 points

Last match: Pacific FC 3-2 Valour FC, August 29

Last week: 2nd

Sure the Canadian Championship battle against Vancouver doesn’t technically count in this ranking, but the momentum and self-belief that could carry them forward for a long time. Pacific put three goals past Jonathan Sirois and Valour in the first half alone on Sunday.

UP NEXT: FC Edmonton v Pacific, Saturday, September 4, 9 pm ET

2 - Forge FC - Record - 8-1-5 25 points

Last week: 3rd

Last match: Forge FC 3-1 York United FC, August 28

Forge continues to impress year after year. As someone said to me the other day “death, taxes and tides”. Well, you can add “Forge playing well” to that list. Beating York and Ottawa by a combined 7-1 certainly proved that they can not only beat you but beat you by a lot. And who is this Woobens Pacius guy?

UP NEXT: HFX Wanderers v Forge, Friday, September 3, 6 pm ET

3 - Cavalry FC - Record - 7-4-3 25 points

Last week: 1st

Last match: Cavalry FC 2-2 FC Edmonton, August 29

Failing to beat Edmonton at home in the ‘Al Classico’ sees Cavalry take a minor tumble down to third in the power rankings this week. If not for a late effort by Joe Mason, Edmonton could have stolen all three points. We know Cavalry can beat good opponents, as they defeated Pacific just a little over a week ago, but they’ll have to be better than they were Sunday.

UP NEXT: FC Edmonton v Cavalry, Wednesday, September 1, 9 pm ET

4 - Valour FC - Record - 7-1-7 22 points

Last match: Pacific FC 3-2 Valour FC, August 29

Last week: 5th

After looking very strong in a 3-0 blanking of FC Edmonton on Tuesday, Valour quickly fell behind to Pacific FC on Sunday and despite looking better in the second half, lost 3-2. They’ll face another big test against Cavalry on the weekend as the boys from Pine Street try to refind their early season form.

UP NEXT: Valour v Cavalry, Saturday, September 4, 5:30 pm ET

5 - York FC - Record - 4-5-6 17 points

Last match: Forge FC 3-1 York United FC, August 28

Last week: 4th

Outplayed by HFX Wanderers on Wednesday, and really outplayed by Forge on Saturday, it was not a great week for York United. Too bad they can’t play League1 teams every week...

UP NEXT: Atletico Ottawa v York, Wednesday, September 1, 7 pm ET

6 - FC Edmonton - Record - 3-5-6 14 points

Last match: Cavalry FC 2-2 FC Edmonton, August 29

Last week: 6th

If not for some really bad defence at the end of the Al Classico, Edmonton could have beaten their Albertan rivals for the first time. Alas, they settle for just their second draw against Cavalry in nine meetings between the two clubs. Is it really a rivalry when one team has 23 of a possible 27 points in matches between them and the other squad has just two?

UP NEXT: FC Edmonton v Cavalry, Wednesday, September 1, 9 pm ET

7 - HFX Wanderers FC - Record - 3-5-6 14 points

Last match: Atletico Ottawa 2-2 HFX Wanderers FC, August 29

Last week: 7th

Despite playing the second half a man up, and taking a lead into the latter stages, HFX could not hold on to a 2-1 lead as they drew Atletico Ottawa on the weekend. Coupled with a draw to York United earlier in the week, it was two points in two games that Halifax really needed to make more of if they want to push for playoff contention.

UP NEXT: HFX Wanderers v Forge, Friday, September 3, 6 pm ET

8 - Atletico Ottawa - Record - 3-3-8 12 points

Last match: Atletico Ottawa 2-2 HFX Wanderers FC, August 29

Last week: 8th

They were roasted 4-0 by Forge before stealing a point against HFX, despite Ryan Telfer being sent off and telling the ref he thinks he’s number one. This is another team that needs to make hay when it plays against teams in the bottom half of the table, like when they play York this Wednesday.

UP NEXT: Atletico Ottawa v York, Wednesday, September 1, 7 pm ET