Vancouver Rise rally to down AFC Toronto, win inaugural Northern Super League title

By Canadian Press on November 15, 2025.

TORONTO — The Vancouver Rise rallied for a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over AFC Toronto in Saturday’s weather-delayed Northern Super League final, becoming the first team to hoist the Diana B. Matheson Cup.

Toronto will rue its many squandered chances, which kept Vancouver in the game before an announced crowd of 12,429 at BMO Field.

Outplayed by a wide margin in a first half that featured Kaylee Hunter’s go-ahead strike in the 20th minute, Vancouver pulled even at 1-1 in the 54th minute on a Toronto own goal. Holly Ward then put the Rise ahead in the 68th minute, outpacing Zoe Burns down the left flank before beating goalkeeper Sierra Cota-Yarde.

A lightning warning — the second of the day — forced the players off the field in the 38th minute with spectators taking shelter in the BMO Field concourses.

Toronto outshot Vancouver 16-8 (8-3 in shots on target). The home side went into the break up 1-0 and could have been leading by more.

Toronto had more chances early in the second half, but it was Vancouver that struck off a Nikki Stanton corner. She curled the ball in towards the near post, where it went through Toronto midfielder Emma Regan’s legs and bounced in off a screened Cota-Yarde for an own goal.

Toronto’s makeshift backline, with midfielder Victoria Pickett starting in defence due to a string of injuries, began to wobble. Toronto players began to complain, promoting referee Marie-Soleil Beaudoin to pull out her yellow card.

Toronto tried to mount a late charge but Vancouver held on. A Toronto call for a handball late in the dying minutes was ignored.

Mother Nature also played a part in the semifinals, with the second leg of the Toronto-Montreal series, originally scheduled for last Sunday at York Lions Stadium, delayed a day due to snow in Toronto.

After some time in the locker-room and a five-minute warmup, the teams returned to action some 40 minutes later. Toronto had a 14-4 edge in shots (8-0 in shots on target) in a dominant first half.

Toronto (16-6-3) finished atop the six-team league in its inaugural regular season, 12 points ahead of Vancouver (11-8-6) with the Rise tied on points with second-place Ottawa Rapid but trailing on goal difference.

Hunter put Canada ahead in the 20th minute, capping a rapid fire counter-attack that started with Pickett. The ball went to Sarah Stratigakis whose through ball put Hunter behind the defence and the 17-year-old’s shot went through the legs of Vancouver ‘keeper Morgan McAslan.

Hunter celebrated with teammates and then posed with her arm on the corner flag. The Vancouver players, meanwhile, gathered in a huddle in front of goal to regroup.

It was Toronto’s first goal in its third game at BMO Field, home to Toronto FC. AFC Toronto has lost all three outings at the lakefront stadium.

Vancouver, whose ownership group includes former Canada captain Christine Sinclair, lost veteran midfielder Quinn in the 36th minute after a midfield collision with Esther Okoronkwo. Quinn hobbled off the field as the rain fell, heading straight to the locker-room with Stanton replacing her.

Toronto came close to doubling its lead in the 44th minute when a deflected cross bounced off the Vancouver goalpost to Okoronkwo, whose ensuing shot was cleared off the goal-line by defender Jasmyne Spencer.

Put behind the defence, Hunter’s shot was off target in first-half stoppage time.

Toronto kept coming forward in the second half with McAslan stopping Okoronkwo on a breakaway in the 48th minute.

Saturday’s final came seven months after the league’s opening kickoff, with both Vancouver and Toronto debuting on big stages.

Vancouver opened April 16 with a 1-0 win over the Calgary Wild before an announced crowd of 14,018 at B.C. Place Stadium. Three days later, Toronto lost 1-0 to the Montreal Roses before 14,518 at BMO Field.

It was a grey damp 5 C afternoon at BMO Field for the last game before construction crews take over to complete World Cup renovations. There was a lightning warning several hours before kickoff but the threat ended before fans entered.

Tickets were only sold for the lower bowl.

Toronto came close in the ninth minute off a short corner but Hunter’s shot went wide. And the home side continued to attack, with McAslan, whose nine clean sheets earned her the league’s Golden Glove Award, making a diving save to deny Regan in the 15th minute.

Hunter’s long-range shot flashed just wide in the 30th minute.

Toronto and Vancouver split their five-game regular-season meetings, with each team finishing 2-2-1.

A goal by Jessica De Filippo gave Vancouver a 1-0 win over Toronto when the team met Aug. 17 at BMO Field in league play before an announced crowd of 7,771. Toronto had not lost since, unbeaten in nine (8-0-1) prior to the championship game while outscoring the opposition 22-4 including a 7-0 demolition of Vancouver on Sept. 13 at York Lions Stadium.

The two teams took different routes to the final with Toronto dispatching the Montreal Roses 6-1 on aggregate in their two-legged final with Okoronkwo scoring a hat trick in Toronto’s 4-1 second-leg win at home. Vancouver edged Ottawa in a penalty shootout after their series finished tied at 3-3 after each team prevailing 2-1 at home.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press