Another good, bad, ugly type-week in Canadian soccer.

A couple CanWNT players have found solid new homes in the NWSL, and Kadeisha Buchanan is all the way back from injury so that’s a major positive.

Unfortunately, Phonzie’s return from injury did not go as well, nor did the Whitecaps latest Concacaf champions cup match.

We’ll get into that, plus Choinière balling out, TFC’s home opener and plenty more ahead in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.

After returning from national team duty last week, two Canadians now have new homes.

Following four seasons in Seattle, Jordyn Huitema is moving across the country to join national teammate, and best friend, Julia Grosso with the Chicago Stars.

The 24-year-old, who also has 23 goals for Canada, will look to help turn around the Chicago club, who finished dead last in the NWSL last season with just three wins from 26 matches.

Unfortunately, this season isn’t looking much brighter as despite Huitema and Grosso going the full 90 Chicago were soundly beaten 4-0 by Angel City on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Holly Ward is staying on the West Coast, but moving south of the border as she transfers from the NSL’s Vancouver Rise to the Seattle Reign.

An NSL champ, she was one of the star players of the league’s inaugural season and has also become a consistent contributor for the Canadian women’s national team.

She did not feature this weekend in a 2-1 win for Seattle against Orlando, but expect to see Ward whipping down the wing in Seattle soon.

The Whitecaps’ odds of getting back to another Concacaf Champions Cup final are suddenly on thin ice.

A shocking 3-0 loss to Cascadia rivals Seattle Sounders at BC Place in the Round of 16 first leg was incredibly unexpected and has the Whitecaps on the brink of elimination, when they were hoping for another special run in this year’s tournament.

Paul Arriola was the hero for Seattle, as he struck right before half-time, and then added a second early in the second half. Paul Rothrock then completed the scoring for the Sounders. With the away goals rule, that is pretty insurmountable.

If the Whitecaps want to pull off the miracle, they will need at least three goals of their own in leg two to tie it up. Four during regulation would see them advance.

The Whitecaps have scored four goals just once in Concacaf action in club history, a 4-1 win against Central FC of Trinidad and Tobago in 2016.

Making things more interesting? Wednesday’s second leg (8 p.m. PT / 11 p.m. ET on OneSoccer, RIP East Coast caps fans) will be played at One Spokane Stadium instead of Lumen Field due to stadium construction.

Who knows which team the 5,000-seat stadium will be an advantage for, but it will certainly be an interesting backdrop as the Caps try to make their historic comeback.

Well that’s a bummer. Last week, we wrote that Phonzy was back in training with the first team and a full recovery before the World Cup has given us excitement. This past week, the CanMNT captain picked up a new injury.

Bayern Munich travelled to Italy to play against Atalanta in the Round of 16 of the Champions League. Phonzie started on the bench and came on at the half. things were looking good as Davies assisted Michael Olise’s goal in the 61st minute. However, 10 minutes later he went down and was subbed off with tears in his eyes.

It was reported as another muscular injury. Fabrizio Romano had tweeted that it was a strain of the posterior thigh muscle in his right leg. Despite the injury, there is a silver lining that the injury may not be too serious.

Jesse Marsch ruled out Phonzie for the March friendlies. The CanMNT gaffer had expressed that the CanMNT captain will be out injured for 2-3 weeks. Therefore, missing the upcoming friendlies against Iceland and Tunisia.

Did Bayern Munich play him too soon? Perhaps. At the end of the day, if Phonzie felt good, how can Vincent Kompany not play him? Should he have played the last 10 as opposed a full half? Perhaps. There is no use in blaming, as injuries can occur out of nowhere. Nonetheless, it is frustrating for Davies as he’s picking up injuries in moments when he picks up momentum.

🏆 Kadeisha Buchanan, League Cup champion. What a way to mark your first start since November 2024. Chelsea lifted the League Cup trophy on Sunday with KB playing a little over an hour in a big 2-0 win over Jayde Riviere and Simi Awujo’s Manchester United.

🏆 Ashley Lawrence wins the French League Cup. And KB wasn’t the only one to win a trophy this week. Ash was in the XI as OL haunted her former club PSG in the French League Cup, taking the title, 1-0. It’s the Canadian’s first trophy with OL, as well. What drama.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Olivia Smith scores. We’ve become so used to the wondergoals that now the “simple” goals, look, well, simple. But don’t let the simplicity fool you because Liv still needed a class first touch to score Arsenal’s first goal in a 2-0 win over London City.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Cyle Larin scores. When one goes in, they all start to go in. Cyle’s blistering run of form continued for Saints in midweek, as the big man rescued a point in a 1-1 draw against West Brom with this last-minute header.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ali Ahmed scores. Not to be outdone in the Championship, Ali’s pre-March window run of scoring also got extended this week. The former Whitecap hooked onto a rebound to tuck home the first for Norwich in a 2-0 win over Preston. Since joining, the club are now up to 12th in the table — what a turnaround there too.

👑 Cloé Lacasse assists. The 2026 NWSL season kicked off this week and Lacasse drew first blood in terms of Canadians on the scoresheet with the assist on Utah’s opener in a 2-1 loss to KC. Despite the loss, the cross was still La-class-e from Cloé.

⛰ Janine Sonis assists. Canada’s SheBelieves Cup MVP delivered an assist on Denver’s first-ever NWSL goal as well this week. Just, er, ignore the red card Sonis picked up a few minutes after the goal… hey, is that former AFC Toronto general Emma Regan in the starting XI for Denver?

🇮🇹 Évelyne Viens assists. Thursday feels like a world and a half ago. On that day though, Év served up a delicious lob that Inter failed mightily to clear, leading to the helper on Roma’s goal in their 1-1 Coppa Italia semi-final first leg draw.

🇨🇿 Adonija Ouanda scores. Czech that out. No, not a fan of the puns? Well, anyways, once-Whitecaps tapped winger Adonija Ouanda scored against second-place Sparta Prague on Sunday with a consolation goal from the ground in a 5-2 loss.

🇵🇱 Zachary Zalewski makes his debut. The CanMNT youth pipeline continues. 17-year-old Windsor, Ontario native Zalewski made his debut in the Polish top flight this week, coming in off the bench in the 80th minute for Jagiellonia in a 2-1 loss.

🇧🇪 Luc De Fougerolles injury update. It’s not all bad news on the CanMNT injury front, for once. The Athletic’s Joshua Kloke reported on Tuesday that LDF’s ankle issue is only a minor one, and that the CB “should only miss 2-3 weeks.” For Jesse Marsch’s sanity, we hope that’ll be the case.

🇸🇪 Amanda West heads out on loan. Talk about clubs making deals up until the last minute. The NWSL’s Houston Dash made the call just before opening weekend to send Swedish-Canadian forward Amanda West out on loan to FC Rosengård for the season. Lycka till, Amanda!

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⚜️ Supra FC appointed Laurent Ciman. The former CF Montreal defender has joined Supra as an assistant coach. The former Belgian international was recently let go as an assistant coach with CF MTL and will bring a wealth of experience to the new club. This is an exciting appointment from Supra.

🦅 Marcel Bibishkov signed with Vancouver FC. The Bulgarian-born Canadian has signed with VFC through 2027, with an option for 2028. The 18-year-old joins Vancouver from the Bulgarian side Septemvri Sofia and has recently registered 6 goals for U20 Canada in the Concacaf U20 championship qualifiers.

🐴 Ali Musse signed a three-year deal. Cavalry have retained the services of their mercurial winger through 2028. Musse was a key player in the Cavs CPL championship in 2024.

🔨 Forge FC signed Anthony Aromatario. The Hammers have announced that they have signed the 22-year-old midfielder to a CPL—U SPORTS contract.

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🔴 Toronto FC held to a draw at BMO Field. TFC hosted the New York Red Bulls in their home opener. Michael Bradley and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty return to BMO as the opps. While Toronto’s new boy Josh Sargent made his debut, and Djordje Milhailovic continue to be the guiding light of the squad. This game did not end in a dub for Toronto as they shared points through a 1-1 draw.

🔵 This MTL might be promising. Is this title slightly ragebait? Maybe. CF Montréal travelled to Florida to face off against Orlando City, who have yet to win a game this season. Maxime Crépeau did not feature due to his red card from last week. MTL lost 2-1 to Orlando. MTL’s conceded goals were preventable and displayed a lack of experience. Despite the loss, MTL enjoyed 65% ball possession and created numerous chances. Outside of Prince Owusu, MTL is missing a clinical finisher and a player with the ability to flip the switch. This is why players like Griezmann are needed.

🌊 James Rodriguez is going to remember Vancouver. Welcome to MLS James! First game? A Caps that was frustrated with their 3-0 loss mid-week and they took it out on Minnesota. How frustrated? The Whitecaps handed a 6-0 beating on Minnesota United. With this battering, the Caps are now first in the Western Conference on goal differential, +13 to be exact.

☀️ It’s the Mathieu Choinière show! LAFC hosted St. Louis City with Ryan Raposo and Mathieu Choinière featuring in the starting lineup with Stephen Eustaquio and Jacob Shaffelburg out injured. It was a tight game between LAFC and St. Louis with both teams unable to find the net. Until the former CF MTL midfielder decided to score two bangers in the 73rd and 81st minutes. In his first start for LAFC, Choinière scored a brace with the game ending 2-0.

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This week’s FanDuel fan of the week is Dez Smee. We tapped in with the owner of Vancouver’s Boombox Barbershop in this week’s What’s it to Ya? Check out the full interview here.