Vancouver Rise come full circle to win inaugural NSL title over AFC Toronto

TORONTO — Heavy rain. Cold winds. Thunder. Lightning. 

Mother Nature threw a lot at AFC Toronto and the Vancouver Rise as they battled it out in Saturday’s Northern Super League final at BMO Field. 

But the inclement weather hardly put a dent in the festivities, nor could it prevent the Rise from mounting an impressive comeback to win 2-1 before a partisan crowd of 12,429 spectators and hoist the Diana B. Matheson Cup to be crowned champions of the NSL’s inaugural campaign. 

Vancouver benefitted from a fortuitous own goal and a strike by Canadian international Holly Ward in the second half against an opponent who entered this game as the favourite — the hosts were seeking to complete the “double,” having won the Supporters’ Shield as the best team from the regular season. Toronto also won 10 of its previous 13 games with only a single loss. One of those victories was a 7-0 demolition of Vancouver in the previous encounter between the clubs.  

Toronto’s success was built on equal parts defensive robustness and an attack that scored a league-high 42 goals during the regular season. But Toronto’s finishing skills abandoned them at the worst possible moment, squandering countless scoring chances that would’ve allowed them to build on their first-half lead and put the match away.  

“Sometimes in football that’s what happens — you get punished,” losing coach Marko Milanović philosophized. 

The Rise displayed great resolve and determination in coming from behind on the road for the second week in a row; their ticket to Saturday’s championship match was stamped last weekend with another comeback effort in the semifinals against Ottawa Rapid FC in the nation’s capital.  

Down 1-0 and totally outplayed through the first 38 minutes on Saturday, the Rise seemed dead and buried when referee Marie-Soleil Beaudoin halted the game to send the players back to their locker rooms due to thunder and lightning in the local area. Play resumed after more than 30 minutes, and when it did, Toronto picked up where it left off by ruthlessly turning the screws on Vancouver.  

Youngster Kaylee Hunter nearly netted her second goal of the contest when her deflected shot from inside the penalty area hit the post. The ball eventually fell to teammate Esther Okoronkwo, but the Nigerian was denied a sure goal when Rise defender Jasmyne Spencer made a fabulous goal-line block on her rebound attempt.     

That proved to be the crucial turning point in the match — it allowed Vancouver to get to halftime only down by a goal when it could’ve been far worse. Spencer’s brilliant defensive play gave the Rise a lifeline, re-energizing them at the start of the second half. 

Vancouver played with more attacking purpose after the restart and was duly rewarded. Nikki Stanton’s free kick forced Toronto captain Emma Regan into making a defensive clearance at the near post. But she didn’t quite get all of it, and the deflected ball ended up being mishandled by Toronto goalkeeper Sierra Cota-Yarde before settling into the back of the net.     

The Rise completed their comeback when Ward latched onto a fabulous ball played out from the back by fellow Canadian international Samantha Chang and then went on a probing run down the left side. She outpaced Toronto’s Zoe Burns before cutting inside into the box and snapping her angled shot by Cota-Yarde.     

Toronto furiously pressed for an equalizer through the final 22 minutes of regulation and four minutes of extra time, only to be thwarted by Vancouver’s bend-but-don’t-break defence and goalkeeper Morgan McAslan, who finished with seven saves and was named the game’s MVP. 

“Toronto played a really good first half. But the resilience in this team is just amazing. To come back from that and finish it up like that with a 2-1 win, I’m just so proud,” Vancouver coach Anja Heiner-Møller. 

Chang echoed her coach’s sentiments, adding that her team’s unbreakable unity was the difference in the contest. 

“We knew that’s what it was going to take to beat a really good team like Toronto; it was going to take every single one of us stepping up in our moments, and that’s exactly what happened today,” the midfielder stated. 

You have to feel somewhat sorry for Regan, a former NCAA standout at the University of Texas who signed with Danish club HB Køge after her schooling was completed. Playing for Toronto in the inaugural NSL season represented a homecoming for the Canadian international who never thought she’d get a chance to play pro soccer in her home country. Regan rose to the occasion as her team’s captain by playing every single minute of all 25 regular-season games en route to being named the league’s midfielder of the year. 

“I think this is an amazing group of girls that we’ve got here in Toronto, and that I got the privilege to play with this past season, it’s meant everything,” Regan said as she fought back tears. 

Chang was in the same boat as Regan. She attended the University of South Carolina before becoming Regan’s teammate at HB Køge. 

“This league, it’s been a long time coming … When I heard about it, I knew that it was something I wanted to be a part of,” Chang said. 

She added, “We hit a lot of milestones this year. Playing in the first-ever game [in April] and now winning the first trophy, it does feel so full circle for us.” 

History, of course, will record the Vancouver Rise as the winner of Saturday’s championship match.  

But the Northern Super League was also a big winner. The upstart league was blessed with a drama-filled final that showcased its genuine quality and was played out before an appreciative crowd whose enthusiasm and engagement didn’t die down for a second, even in less-than-ideal weather. 

Saturday’s match capped off a thrilling playoff campaign for the NSL, serving as a fantastic promotional tool for the league and for women’s soccer in this country. 

“I think the final being so electric, and getting so many fans, and back and forth [action] with two goals in the second half to put us ahead, and even our semifinal matchup against Ottawa, it’s all been great sports. Men’s

, women’s

— doesn’t matter. [They’ve] been great sporting events to watch. So, I think that that’s a huge advertisement for everybody in Canada to keep watching, keep supporting,” Chang said.