'Relentless' AFC Toronto set to battle and host 'hard-nosed' Vancouver Rise FC in 1st NSL Final

The first Northern Super League Final will never be forgotten, regardless of Saturday’s outcome. But it could be more memorable if host AFC Toronto and Vancouver Rise FC match the excitement of their respective paths to the Canadian professional women’s soccer championship.

After Vancouver clinched a playoff berth in its final regular-season game with a gritty 1-1 draw in Halifax on Sept. 27, attacker Latifah Abdu scored twice in a 2-1 win over visiting Ottawa Rapid FC to open a two-legged semifinal on Nov. 4.

From there, Rise FC prevailed 4-3 in a dramatic second leg at TD Place in Ottawa four days later when midfielder Sofia Hagman scored in the sixth round of penalty kicks after Vancouver attacker Holly Ward scored to force a shootout, with the aggregate score from the two semifinal matches at 3-3.

"The last game in that semifinal, we had some players step up," Abdu told CBC Sports on Thursday. "We had [players come off the bench] and make an instant impact."

Rise FC were fresh off an 11-6-8 regular season, highlighted by an eight-match unbeaten run through the summer, and placed third of six teams.

“We're such a hard-nosed team,” Jessika Cowart, a midfielder with international experience for the Philippines and club stints in Sweden and Australia, told the Vancouver-based Georgia Straight newspaper in early October. “We literally put our bodies on the line for each other. That’s our identity — team first. And it’s not just words. It’s real.”

AFC Toronto finished atop the standings at 16-6-3 for 51 points, 12 more than Vancouver. It carries a five-game win streak into Saturday’s battle for the Diana B. Matheson Cup at 2 p.m. at BMO Field, and boasts eight wins and a draw over its past nine outings.

The NSL Final will be broadcast nationally on CBC and live streamed at CBC Sports and CBC Gem on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET. Match time is 2 p.m.

"Do or die, gotta put your body on the line, do whatever it takes to win," said Toronto midfielder Emma Regan. "I think every person on our team has bought into that and we're going to play for each other."

On Monday, Toronto booked a spot in the Final with a 4-1 victory over visiting Montreal Roses at snow-covered York Lions Stadium, a match rescheduled from the previous day due to inclement weather and significant snowfall in the Toronto area.

Esther Okoronkwo, the 26-year-old attacker who moved to Texas from Nigeria as a young teenager with her sister, scored three times in the first 26 minutes for an insurmountable 3-1 lead.

On Nov. 1, it was goalkeeper Sierra Cota-Yarde’s time to shine as the 22-year-old Toronto native and her teammates blanked Montreal 2-0 in the first leg.

“I'd describe us as relentless," midfielder Nikki Small, of Pickering, Ont., said in a story on the team’s website. "Everyone knows we didn't start the season the way we wanted [with one win in four games], and people doubted us early on. But we bounced back and have been climbing ever since.

“We're relentless in how we press, defend, score, and celebrate — it's who we are as a team."