It’s the start of a new era for one club, and the end of an era for another as Pacific FC gets set to host Atlético Ottawa at Starlight Stadium on Saturday.
For Pacific FC, it’s the start of a new chapter, as they play their first game after announcing on Friday that they had hired Terry Dunfield as head coach following the departure of their long-tenured head coach, James Merriman, earlier this month.
Dunfield won’t be behind the bench for this game, with his tenure not set to start until early July, but this game will still mark the start of his project.
For now, though, interim head coach Yiannis Tsalatsidis, who will remain on Dunfield’s staff after his arrival, will continue to helm the team in the near future. After a tough 3-0 defeat in his first game as interim manager, he’ll hope for a better result back at home, as he looks to push Pacific to their first victory of 2026.
Ottawa, meanwhile, are getting set to say goodbye to their manager, Diego Mejía, who will depart the club following this match.
After an emotional send-off at TD Place last weekend, as he helped lead his team to an impressive 2-1 win vs. Forge, his squad will want to ensure that they send off their manager, who helped them to their first North Star Cup in 2025, on a high note – even if he technically won’t be behind the bench this game as he serves a ban for yellow card accumulation.
Having done well to steady their ship after a rocky start to the season, as they’re up to fourth in the table after winning three and drawing one of their last five league games, and are also into the quarter-finals of the Canadian Championship following an impressive 3-1 defeat of MLS side Toronto FC, they’ll want to keep the good times rolling this weekend.