This past Sunday I got to watch the Vancouver Rise play AFC Toronto in Burnaby, British Columbia, birthplace of Christine Sinclair. She’s kind of a big deal here.
The match was scheduled just about an hour after Canada downed South Africa 1-0 in Los Angeles in the Round of 32 at the Men’s World Cup, so there were equal parts Canada red and mint-green Rise jerseys in the crowd.
Honestly, I had no idea what to expect: What would the crowds be like? Would the refs be awful? What would the play on the field look like? How is the Northern Super League doing in Year 2?
The Rise are the defending NSL champions and they currently sit in fifth in the league standings, below the playoff line in the six-team league, with a 3-5-1 record. Toronto is in fourth at 3-2-3.
The stands at Swangard Stadium were full with a capacity of about 5,000. The Rise generally draw the largest crowds in the league, and fans told me that Sunday’s game was typical. Picnic tables were filled in one endzone and food trucks sold concessions.
Quick primer for those unfamiliar: This is just the second year of the NSL, which was founded by former Canadian national team player Diana Matheson. Teams this season will play 23 matches, with two-legged semifinals starting on Oct. 31 and the final set for Nov. 14.
Unfortunately for the home crowd, Toronto went ahead in the 34th minute on an own goal. Afterward the supporters group kept the crowd in it by singing Pink’s song: “I’m coming up so you better get this party started …”
The party at Swangard started some three minutes later when midfielder Anais Oularbi scored for the Rise.
But Toronto pulled ahead in the 62nd on Lauren Rowe’s goal, her second of the season. They eventually put a bow on the match with a goal from Kaylee Hunter in stoppage time for a 3-1 victory.
Toronto coach Marko Milanoviฤ was named the NSL Coach of the Year last year after leading his team to the league’s Shield. He explained the difference between halves after the match:
“I would say the ability to forget the first half and to start fresh in the second half significantly better than the first,” he said. “That’s that’s not easy for a team to come out the way we came on the second half, especially for young team. So just another one in the books, and we take this experience with us.”
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the womenโs sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of womenโs sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
Sinclair is a big presence, naturally, and by far, most of the fans sported her jersey. There were quite a few Sinclair Thorns jerseys, too. But there were some others:
Quinn is a non-rostered player, currently, but they were there and signed autographs:
Camila Reyes, who was on the Colombian national team that played in the 2023 Women’s World Cup, also plays for the Rise. There were a handful of Colombian jerseys in the crowd, and she posed with fans after the match.
Overall I was impressed and I had a blast. I’ll be writing more about the NSL and its growth, as well as the so-called World Cup bump, in the coming weeks. Apologies I don’t have the bandwidth for links, you’ll know why next Monday morning. In the meantime, here’s me being a fangirl:
Soccer: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Womenโs Soccer
Tennis: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer
Basketball: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The IX Sports
Softball: Maren Angus-Coombs, @Maren-Angus, The IX Sports
Golf: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX Sports
Hockey: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden
Gymnastics: Jessica Taylor Price, @jesstaylorprice, Freelance Writer
