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April 21st Edition
The Northern Super League is here!
What a special week for Canadian Soccer.
The Northern Super League is here, and it’s beautiful. Canadian ballers, coaches, creatives and more getting to do their thing on home soil — historic, game-changing, and a dream come true.
Things stay blessed for those on the west coast, who will now have Lionel Messi (we think) coming to town on Thursday for the Concacaf Champions Cup semi-finals.
Plus, Toronto FC won a game!?, brace weeks for Davids, and plenty more in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.
In this week's edition:
NSL
✨ Quinn, Rise, Roses make history during NSL’s historic opening week
Northern Super League
The ink in the history books is still drying after a monumental week for Canadian soccer.
In Vancouver on Wednesday night, the Northern Super League kicked off for the first time ever at Vancouver’s BC Place. The match featured the league’s first two clubs, Vancouver Rise and Calgary Wild.
The biggest question going into the match was who would make history as the NSL’s first-ever goalscorer. In the 21st minute, Quinn provided the historic answer. One of, if not the face of the league in year one, they stepped up to the penalty spot and opened the scoring for Vancouver Rise. To have the national team star be the league’s first-ever goalscorer just felt right.
Vancouver Rise held on to defeat Calgary 1-0, picking up the first win in league history. A crowd of 14,018 took in the game at BC Place — an outstanding number for the league’s first-ever contest.
That attendance record lasted just three more days, however, as 14,518 fans turned out to Toronto’s BMO Field on Saturday for AFC Toronto’s home opener against the Montréal Roses.
Less than two minutes into the match, Montréal’s Tanya Boychuk ruined the party by latching onto a backpass and scoring her club’s first-ever goal. AFC Toronto had plenty of chances to get back in the game, but Anna Karpenko stood tall to earn the clean sheet and a 1-0 triumph for the Roses.
This coming weekend, the league’s other two teams will be in action for the first time with their home openers. Halifax Tides host Calgary Wild on Saturday at Wanderers Grounds, before Ottawa Rapid host AFC Toronto at TD Place on Sunday. Week two action concludes with Vancouver Rise playing at their proper home ground, Swangard Stadium, on Sunday hosting the Montréal Roses.
Watch all the action live on TSN+, CBC Gem and cbcsports.ca.
Champions Cup
🏆 Whitecaps host Messi’s Miami in Concacaf Champions Cup semi-finals
OneSoccer
On Thursday, arguably one of the biggest games in Canadian club soccer history will take place at BC Place.
The Vancouver Whitecaps, against one of the best players (maybe THE best, but we do want to keep our Portuguese audience) in football history at BC Place in a continental semifinal — it doesn’t get much better than that.
Yes, Lionel Messi (we think for real this time) and Inter Miami come to town on Thursday (7:30 p.m. PT / 10:30 p.m. ET on OneSoccer) for the home leg of the semi-final.
Taking care of business in the home leg will be critical, something that the Whitecaps failed to do in their last two series against CF Monterrey and Pumas UNAM. They won’t want to put themselves in the difficult position of going down to Miami in the second leg without a lead on aggregate.
But the Caps have been brilliant since the season started. In MLS action, the Whitecaps sit top of the table, with 20 points, while Miami are in fourth, with 18.
Messi, meanwhile, has been class as always during the competition, with five goals scored in his five games played. Brian White leads the way for the Caps with three goals.
Miami reached the semi-final after defeating LAFC 3-2 on aggregate in the quarters. They also defeated Jamaican club Cavalier, and Sporting Kansas City in the tournament’s first two rounds.
The Whitecaps are looking to become the first Canadian team to reach the final since Toronto FC lost in 2018 on penalties to Chivas Guadalajara. CF Montréal, meanwhile, lost to Club América in the 2015 final. The caps have only ever gotten as far as the semi-final, something they accomplished in 2016-17, before losing to Tigres.
Canucks Abroad
🌍 Canucks Abroad
Liverpool FC Women
🏴 Olivia Smith on the scoresheet again. Last week, Liv came up big against Chelsea in the FA Cup. This week, Liverpool travelled South to Brighton and defeated the home team 2-1. Olivia Smith scored the first goal in the second minute. Now, due to her performance this season, rumours have emerged that European giants Lyon and Chelsea are interested in acquiring the CanWNT winger.
🏴 Kadeisha Buchanan signed extension with Chelsea. The injured CanWNT defender has signed a two-year contract extension with the West London club. Despite the injury, it is evident that Buchanan remains an important defensive option for Chelsea.
🇫🇷 Jonathan David added two to his tally. Lille were away at Auxerre, with Theo Bair starting for the home team. It was a good day for JD as he assisted the first goal in the ninth minute and scored a brace. With the goals and one assist, Jonathan David has 16 goals and four assists this season in Ligue 1.
🇧🇪 The other David decided to add another two as well. Another away game for a Canuck Abroad. Promise David and third-place Union Saint-Gilloise were away at second-place Genk. USG defeated the home club 2-1, with both goals coming from Promise David. PD’s two goals has brought his season tally to 16 goals and four assists in the Belgian first division. Yes, you read that right, they’re mimicking each other. With this win, Genk and USG are tied on points and are only two points behind first-place Club Brugge.
🏴 Alistair Johnston has reached double digits in assists. Celtic travelled to St. Johnstone and handed the home side a 5-1 defeat. AJ assisted Jota’s goal with a cross towards the far post. AJ’s latest assist brings his season tally to 10.
🧤Dayne St. Clair hits five clean sheets. DSC and the Loons kept a league lead-tying fifth shutout this week in a 0-0 draw against Dallas. It was a busier one for DSC, getting called to make four saves. Tani Oluwaseyi also saw the full 90’ in this one.
Canucks at Home
🏡 Canucks at Home
Canada Soccer
🇨🇦 Inaugural CanWNT Futsal squad announced. Canada has announced its first ever women’s futsal team for the Concacaf W futsal championship. The winners of the championship will qualify for the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup. Canada has announced its 14 player roster for the Concacaf Championship. Nine of the 14 players are from Quebec.
🇨🇦 Canada Soccer Futsal champions. Last week, we failed to report on the 2025 Canada Soccer futsal champions. Our bad. The competition was held in Regina, Saskatchewan, where the best men and women’s teams were crowned winners. This year, the women’s division champions are Saskatoon’s SK Impact FC defeating Quebec’s Underdogs FC. The men’s division champions are Quebec’s Atletico Gatineau defeating Toronto’s 9 de Octubre FC.
Other news
📰 In other news
Hanin Mazri / DARBY
❌ Jesse Marsch received a two-game ban. Concacaf have ruled that the CanMNT gaffer will miss the first two games of Canada’s Gold Cup campaign. Jesse Marsch was shown a red card due to his protest against the referees in the third-place game of the Nations League. As a result, he is suspended for the next game, but the Concacaf Disciplinary Committee gave another game suspension “for unacceptable conduct towards the match officials and for delaying the restart of the match by refusing to leave the field of play." Canada Soccer issued a statement and are looking to contest the additional game ban.
🔵 CF Montréal are still without a win. Last week, wMTL lost their home opener but played great football. This weekend, CFM played decent football but once again lacked any finish and were unlucky with two disallowed goals. One of the disallowed goals was due to Samuel Piette being in a passive offside position, he was screening keeper. Criticisms towards Prince Owusu are starting to increase. However, it is clear he’s a striker who thrives in a 4-4-2 setup. Owusu is not a solo striker. He needs a partner. The game ended 0-0. Note: CF Montréal’s defence continued to be the team's bedrock.
🌊 The Whitecaps held to a draw at St. Louis. If we’re being honest, Vancouver got lucky with a draw. The first half was a one-sided game as St. Louis were attacking relentlessly and the Caps had no solution for the pressure. Moreover, St. Louis’ disallowed goal due to an offside call was a very tight decision. In the second half, tactics were adjusted and Vancouver were attacking effectively, but were unlucky with the finishing. On the other side, Kyle Hiebert pitched in on STL’s clean sheet.
🔴 Toronto FC earned their first dub of the season. TFC may have found their best formation, granted, they had 32% possession, and Real Salt Lake’s attack came in waves. However, TFC’s defence kept the attacks at bay, and Sean Johnson was Toronto’s best player of the night. Theo Corbeanu opened the game in the 8th minute, scoring his first MLS goal with TFC. With this win, the boys in red have earned their first three points of the season, separating themselves from last-place CF Montréal.
🐎 Cavalry and Vancouver picked up their first points. Both clubs have started the season with two Ls and now have earned their first point each through a 1-1 draw. Cavalry need work and Vancouver’s attack looked promising but the finishing needs work.
🏟️ Atletico Ottawa with a clutch win. The Ontario Darby between Ottleti and York United was a tight one. Both clubs were evenly matched and tested each other’s backline all game. But the game really came alive in the second half with four goals were scored. In the end, Ottawa clutched it with a late goal in stoppage time at the 90+6th minute ending the game at 3-2. Also, Manny Aparicio, wow. Also, this game had 47 fouls.
⚓️ Halifax are rectifying last season’s disaster. 2024 was a year to forget for the Wanderers as they finished dead last. The Haligonians are playing proper football and sent Pacific FC back home with a 3-1 loss. This game was entertaining. All the goals were quality and the overall football was tidy.
🌾 Valour earned their first point of the season. The Winnipeg club travelled to Hamilton to play against Forge FC. The game started well for Valour as Shaan Hundal scored the opening goal in the 11th minute. Forge pressed, but Valour maintained momentum until the 50th minute when Brian White capitalized on a rebound and equalized. However, the visitors maintained and looked for a game winner. With Jon Viscosi’s penalty save against Forge’s Daniel Nimick, a draw away at Hamilton is a better outcome for Valour than it is for Forge. The game ended 1-1.
✅ Northern Picks
This week’s picks come from Zakary Janvier-Rhéaume (@zvk_jvnuvry). Based in Montréal, he’s a freelance creative who likes to touch to everything: from styling to photography. A passionate and annoying Barca fan, he won’t ever miss an opportunity to try the nutmeg.
📺 What to watch
Contes de Foot is a YouTube channel specializing in remembering the greats of the game we love. In each episode, we follow the full career of a footballer or how different styles of player changes through times. Trust me, there’s enough to get lost for hours...
🎧 What to listen to
Let’s start with something local: I don’t know how I discovered Feuille d’or sur le Kobe by Neimo & Dj White socks but the Montreal duo bring an og rap beat with unique and meaningful flow. On another note, my musical discovery of the year is Dali, another French singer/rap artist. He mixes melancholic melodies with a touch of rap and “chanson française”. His “Muse (Live)” album is a no skip.
✅ Who to follow
Another Montrealer, Les Outsiderz, is who I look to for a quick, accurate and funny post-game recap. Even though he’s an arsenal fan, he’s my go-to after any Barca game.
🛍️ What to buy
Anything from Estudio Niksen.