After seeding came down to the final match day of the season, the NSL playoffs are set and kicking off Oct. 31. The reigning champions, the Vancouver Rise, will look to reprise their championship, but they’ll have to get through three Eastern Canada teams, including the Supporters’ Shield winners, to do so.
How it works:
Four NSL teams are locked in to the playoffs: Montréal Roses FC, Ottawa Rapid, AFC Toronto, and the Vancouver Rise.
The NSL playoffs use an aggregate format to determine the winners of the first round, and have a winner-take-all final game in a predetermined location. Each team will play two games, one on the road and one at home, and the total number of goals scored across the two games will determine who moves on to the final.
The schedule is as follows.
Semi Finals
October 31: Ottawa Rapid at AFC Toronto (2:00 pm ET)
November 1: Montréal Roses at Vancouver Rise (7:00 PM ET)
November 7: AFC Toronto at Ottawa Rapid (2:00 PM ET)
November 8: Vancouver Rise at Montréal Roses (4:00 PM ET)
Finals:
November 14: Winner of Toronto/Ottawa vs Winner of Vancouver/Montréal in Ottawa (2:00 PM ET)
Rep The IX Sports at your next game!
Shop the logo collection or special “Women’s Sports are Front Page News” collection now on Shopify.
The teams:
Vancouver Rise
The Vancouver Rise had to wait until the final seconds of the NSL season to earn their spot in the NSL Playoffs. After Halifax was unable to beat Toronto and settled for a tie, Vancouver, who are the reigning champions, locked into the final playoff spot. The Rise had a rough start to the season, not getting a win until the fourth game of the season. It’s been a year of ups and downs, but, as fans saw last season, once the Rise are in the playoffs, anything can happen.
The Rise only have three wins against playoff teams this season, and have only tied against their first-round opponent, the Montréal Roses.
AFC Toronto
AFC Toronto dominated last season in the NSL, and were the favourites going into the final game last season before losing to the Rise 2-1 on home turf. This season has been less dominant for Toronto, who never once led in the standings. However, they’re on a roll going into the playoffs, having not lost a game since August 16.
Their strength is scoring goals and they finished the season with a +14 goal differential. Two of the top five scorers in the league play for Toronto. They’ll face off against the only opponent in the league who’s scored more goals than them, the Ottawa Rapid. AFC Toronto is 2-2-1 against their Ontario-based rivals.
Ottawa Rapid
The Ottawa Rapid have been one of the top teams to beat this season, ultimately finishing the regular season in second place in the standings. They went on a six-game winning streak through the middle of the season, and finished with the highest goals for across the league. Their 1-0 loss to the Montréal Roses at the end of the season kept them from winning the Supporters’ Shield.
This year’s hosts will be looking to play for the Diana B. Matheson Cup on home turf. To do so, they’ll need to defeat AFC Toronto.
Montréal Roses FC
The Supporters’ Shield winners had another great season in the NSL this year. They started the season off on the right foot, not losing their first game until a month into the season. The team alternated between first and second place in the standings all year long before beating Ottawa in the last game to clinch first place.
Despite the success of the team, the Roses parted ways with their inaugural head coach Robert Rositoiu on Aug. 13. Since that change, the Roses have not lost a game.
They also finished with the best goal differential in the league and will look to defend that first-place title against last year’s champions.
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 women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
Players to watch:
This year’s Golden Boot winner, De Filippo, will look to continue her scoring ways with the Vancouver Rise as they face off against the best goaltender in the league on the Montréal Roses. Her 13 goals were two higher than the nearest league competitor, and twice as many as her nearest teammate, Latifah Abdu. With that high of a goal differential between De Filippo and her teammates, the Rise will have to help her score some goals, especially with aggregate goals being the determinant of who moves on.
Kaylee Hunter
Kaylee Hunter is one of the most exciting young players in the Canadian national team ladder and in the Northern Super League. In her second year in the NSL with Toronto AFC, Hunter finished second in the Golden Boot race, the same place she finished in 2025. Her 11 goals were the highest among AFC Toronto players, despite missing three games during the season. She also led the league in shots on target and total shots.
Hunter scored AFC Toronto’s only goal in their loss to the Vancouver Rise in last year’s cup final.
Delaney Baie Pridham
The Ottawa Rapid scored 50 goals this season, the highest of any team in the NSL. The team’s leading scorer, Pridham, scored 10 of those. She assisted on five of the other goals, and contributed 29 of the 133 shots on target that Ottawa fired this season.
Pridham has been one of the league’s best players since she joined the league last season, scoring the league’s first hat trick. She also won the Golden Boot, Player of the Year, and was named to Team of the Year in 2025. If the Ottawa Rapid are going to find success in the playoffs this year, they’ll need Pridham at her best.
Although she didn’t lead the league in any specific category, Bennett tied for second in goals among NSL players with 11, had the fourth-most shots on target, and the fifth-most shots. Her 11 goals this season were double her nearest teammate’s total of six, and she scored three game-winning goals. Even when she isn’t on the scoreboard, she’s a threat, setting up her other teammates to find the back of the net.
How to watch:
Canadian fans can watch on CBC and TSN/RDS. The Toronto/Ottawa series will be on CBC, while the Vancouver/Montréal series will be on TSN/RDS. CBC and TSN/RDS will broadcast the final game and it will also be on the NSL YouTube Channel.
American viewers can watch the Vancouver/Montréal series on ESPN+, as well as the final game.
