It is one of those rare occasions in sports that TSS Rovers head coach Brendan Teeling describes as a “win-win” for his team.
“The pressure is all on Pacific FC,” he said.
“They are expected to win.”
Just being there is a bonus in more ways than one for the Burnaby-based Rovers when they meet PFC of the Canadian Premier League tonight at Starlight Stadium in the opening round of the Canadian Championship for the Voyageurs Cup, which is this nation’s answer to the FA Cup.
The annual tournament features the three Canadian teams in Major League Soccer — CF Montreal, Toronto FC and defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps — the eight CPL pro teams and the champions of the mostly-amateur League1 B.C., League1 Ontario and League1 Quebec. The 2024 Canadian Championship winner will earn a berth in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
The Rovers, last season’s League1 B.C. runners-up, only got the berth because the defending League1 B.C. champion Victoria Highlanders folded operations, denying Island fans a derby match-up against PFC.
“It was bittersweet having the Highlanders leave League1 but it gave us an opportunity and the guys are excited by it,” said Teeling. “This is a big moment for me and our players.”
As well as their fans as the Rovers are the best-supported team in League1 B.C. at Swangard Stadium.
“We have a good amount of travelling support coming to the game and we want to perform for them,” said Teeling.
Those fans were thrown into a tizzy last year when TSS became the first League1 team in the country to beat a CPL club when they upset Valour FC 3-1 at Swangard Stadium in the opening round of the 2023 Canadian Championship and gave PFC a scare before losing 2-0 to the Tridents in the quarter-finals at Starlight Stadium on two late PFC goals.
“Punching above your weight is what cup tournaments are all about,” says PFC managing-director Paul Beirne.
“Since we [CPL] are the middle tier in this tournament, we are David when playing MLS teams, but Goliath when playing League1 clubs.”
Giant-killing moments pock-mark the history of cup play in all countries, including in 2021 when PFC upset the Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS in the quarter-finals at Starlight before taking Toronto FC of MLS to the wire in a 2-1 semifinal loss at BMO Field.
“The [TSS] win over Valour last year was massive but it’s not every year that happens. We are the underdogs against Pacific [tonight] and we embrace that,” said Teeling.
“But I don’t want the moment to get to the players. I want them to be in charge of themselves.”
TSS backed into the Canadian Championship this year but will try to make the most of the unexpected opportunity after the Highlanders said they could no longer operate in League1 B.C. under new guidelines put in after Canadian Soccer Business, the marketing and sponsorship company owned by the CPL owners, bought League1 B.C. and League 1 Ontario in December in an attempt to streamline and strengthen the Canadian soccer pyramid.
“There are always going to be growing pains,” said Teeling, who has played and coached in Ireland, Australia, Canada and the U.S.
“We need this [League1] platform to grow the game in this country. This is the way forward.”
