May 12th Edition

The Canadian Championship has reached the quarter-final stage as the Preliminary round wrapped up this past week and the competition was reduced to eight remaining teams.

Plus, the European season is reaching its business end, which means several Canadians playing in important matches as their clubs look to win trophies, or lock up key European competition positions.

All that and the rest of the biggest stories in Canadian footy this week are ahead in this edition of The Northern Pitch.

In this week's edition:

• 🏆 Quarter-final CanChamp matchups set

• 👏 Olivia Smith nominated for WSL POTY

• ✨ This week in the NSL

• 🌍 Canucks Abroad

• 🏡 Canucks at Home

• ⚽️ Canadian MLS updates

• ✅ Northern Picks

CanChamp

🏆 Quarter-final matchups set in 2025 Canadian Championship

The Preliminary Round of the 2025 Canadian Championship concluded this past week, with four more teams heading home, and four tasty quarter-final matchups confirmed.

On Tuesday, York United took care of business at home against Ligue1 Québec’s FC Laval with a 5-0 victory and Vancouver FC advanced for the first time in their history with a penalty shootout victory over rivals Pacific FC.

Wednesday’s action saw an all-CPL clash between Forge FC and the Halifax Wanderers, with Forge winning 3-1 at home. Later that night in Winnipeg, TSS Rovers almost did it again, but this time, Valour were able to hold on for a narrow 1-0 victory.

The four home-and-away quarter-final matchups are now set, with first leg action taking place on May 20/21, and the second leg in July. For the fifth straight year, Forge FC take on CF Montréal — who they eliminated at this very stage last season. There is also a battle of Ontario as Atlético Ottawa and York United renew their heated rivalry in the CanChamp quarters.

Out west, Valour take on three-time defending champs Vancouver Whitecaps, while Cavalry FC and Vancouver FC clash for the second straight year. A full schedule for when matches will be played is expected to be released soon with the lower seed hosting the first leg.

CanWNT

👏 Olivia Smith nominated for WSL Player of the Year

Olivia Smith has been absolutely balling in England this year, and people have taken notice.

This past week, the Canadian star, still just 20 and in her second professional season, was nominated for the FA WSL’s Player of the Year and Rising Player awards.

In 20 matches this season for Liverpool in the FA WSL, Smith has seven goals.

Other players on the Player of the Year shortlist include: Arsenal’s Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo, Chelsea’s Aggie Beever-Jones and Sandy Baltimore, Brighton’s Kiko Seike, Manchester City’s Mary Fowler, Manchester United’s Maya Le Tissier and West Ham’s Shekeira Martinez.

Smith is being linked to moves to even bigger clubs within the FA WSL or beyond, and could be making a push to get to an even higher level next season and potentially Champions League football.

At Liverpool, Smith’s contributions have already been recognized as she won the club’s internal Players’ Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards this past week.

Keep making us proud, Livy!

NSL

✨ This week in the NSL

This past Monday, the Vancouver Rise picked out their first win at Swangard Stadium this season, 1-0 over the Halifax Tides. Jasmyn Spencer provided the winner with an absolute screamer into the sunset. There’s a banger per week at this point in the NSL.

In Québec on Saturday, the league saw history of the boring sort, with its first 0-0 draw as the Montréal Roses hosted the Halifax Tides. Montréal remain the only undefeated team in the league and sit top of the table with three wins and a draw. Meanwhile, Halifax pick up their first point in club history.

A Mothers’ Day double-header wrapped up the weekend as AFC Toronto hosted the Vancouver Rise at York Lions Stadium. The league’s two middle teams in the standings, Calgary Wild and Ottawa Rapid, faced off as McMahon Stadium made its NSL debut.

Despite exciting action from both Toronto and Vancouver, including a nice link-up right at the end between Esther Okoronkwo and Kaylee Hunter, another half ended 0-0.

The second half saw much more excitement with Aoi Kizaki teeing up and driving one past Morgan McAslan late on. But, the Rise will probably be the happier of the two sides after Jessica De Filippo netted a late header off a corner of Vancouver’s own for a 1-1 final.

Sunday’s second clash had a lot of excitement in the lead up. Over 8,000 people were on hand as Calgary kicked off against Ottawa. Following the trend of the weekend, this one also ended in the NSL’s second nil-nil draw. The Wild’s Stephanie Bukovec and the Rapid’s Mollie Eriksson both claimed their first clean sheets of the season.

Canucks Abroad

🌍 Canucks Abroad

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ashley Lawrence is a WSL Champion. Chelsea have finished the season with a 1-0 home win against Liverpool. Ashley Lawrence ends the season by contributing an assist for Chelsea’s only goal. Thus confirming the club’s 22-game unbeaten streak. A flawless campaign with no Ls. We are in the midst of an Invincibles era in West London.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Olivia Smith picked up double club awards. Before the final game of the season at Stamford Bridge, the CanWNT winger was presented with Liverpool’s Player’s Player of the Year and Player’s Young Player of the Year. Liv has scored nine goals in 24 appearances for the Merseyside club.

🇮🇹 Here we go, more Jonathan David rumours. JD transfer news is not new. If anything it's exhausting at this point. However, the latest news suggests that Inter Milan are leading the race to sign Jonathan David. The list of reported clubs that are interested includes numerous top-shelf clubs. The list of clubs will make non-footy fans blush. UPDATE: Frabizio Romano has reported that Napoli has entered the chat, and now they seem to be the favourites.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Owen Goodman in the EFL League Two Team of the Year. The season isn’t quite over yet as AFC Wimbledon made the play-off spots. However, the potential CanMNT keeper already has an award to take home. Goodman kept 23 clean sheets in 51 games this season, enough for a TOTY nod.

🇦🇹 Naël Kane made LASK’s first-team bench. This Ottawa youngster is one to keep an eye out for. Kane made the switch from CF Montréal’s academy just a few months ago. The 19-year-old didn’t end up seeing the pitch in a 0-0 draw against Hartberg, but the coaching staff evidently see a lot to come.

🇫🇷 Vanessa Gilles scores and assists. Offensive contributions are becoming something of a regular for the Lyon centre-back. The CanWNT defender was a force in Dijon’s 18-yard box, cleaning up rebounds for a goal and an assist in a 4-1 semi-final win in the new Première Ligue structure.

🇵🇹 Jeneva Hernandez-Gray finds the net. Sporting CP travelled to Maritímo and handed the home club a 3-0 defeat. The Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite graduate scored her first senior goal for her Portuguese club Sporting CP. The Coquitlam midfielder closed out the game with the final goal.

👏 Tani Oluwaseyi and Dayne St. Clair are triumphant over Messi. Minnesota United hosted the Florida club and thrashed the away team 4-1. Despite not finding the net, Tani assisted Minnesota’s fourth goal. Dayne did not keep a clean sheet but still earned three points over the Eastern Conference favourites.

⭐️ Julia Grosso opens her Chicago Stars account. It took until four games into a new season but Canada’s gold medal clincher has her first NWSL goal. It had a nice finish too, curling past a couple of defenders. Unfortunately, the Stars would still fall 3-2 to Gabby Carle’s Washington Spirit, compounding their slow start to the season.

☄️ Jacob Shaffel-BANGER. The Nova Scotia Messi was at it again. Nashville picked up all three points in a 2-1 win against Charlotte thanks to a second-half Shaffelburg shot that cannoned into the bottom-right corner. It was the winger’s first goal of the season after starting the year on the injury report. Oh, and Nashville’s admin turned him into a Lightning McQueen reference.

🤷 Last-minute consolation for Kyle Hiebert and St Louis. STL have yet to really solve their lack of offence problem so far this season. They have the fourth-fewest goals in MLS. Winnipeg’s Kyle Hiebert added one to that tally though at the end of a 2-1 loss to San Diego after mopping up some chaos in the box.

Follow Canucks Abroad on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram.

Canucks at Home

🏡 Canucks at Home

🏟️ It’s Sam Salter’s world, we’re all NPCs. Valour’s defence had a very long day. Atlético Ottawa had completely exposed Valour’s defensive block on the counter-attack. At the tip of the spear is Laval’s finest, Sam Salter. The former Halifax forward scored four goals against Valour, with each goal displaying superb finishing. Despite Valour getting two goals back, the damage was done, and Ottleti defeated Valour 5-2.  

🐎 Halifax Wanderers are handed their first home loss. Not only was it their first loss at home, but also their first loss in the CPL. However, the way Halifax lost is slightly concerning. Their CanChamp loss to Forge appears to have affected the team’s momentum. Whereas for Cavalry, they had a game plan, and they came to play. Every Wanderers’ mistake was punished, and the Cavs relentlessly sought a win. The Calgarians walked out of Wanderers Grounds with a 3-0 victory. 

🔱 Pacific FC clutch it in stoppage time. PFC have finally won again at home, earning their second sub of the season. Things started off shaky for the home side as York United took the lead with Gabriel Bitar dancing in the box with a clean finish. PFC equalized with a penalty before the half. For the majority of the game, both teams were evenly matched, and it appeared as if the game would end in a draw… until Emanuel Montejano tapped in Pedro Machado’s header while lying on the ground. A chaotic sequence with clutch movements that confirmed PFC’s 2-1 win over York.

Follow Canucks At Home on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram.

MLS

🍁 Canadian MLS updates

🔴 Is this what winning feels like? Toronto FC takes the field against DC United with an Ultra-less BMO Field. Despite that loss, this game was a massive vibe with a big dub for TFC. From the first half, despite not scoring, Toronto’s attack was relentless and exciting. Bernardeschi and Insigne were untouchable. Between the two, BMO witnessed vintage Insigne. The former Napoli captain scored a header and caused a DC own goal with a dangerous pass into the box. This is the performance that the Ultras have been demanding. The game ended 2-0 for TFC.

🔵 Prince Owusu scored a banger! Yes, you read that right. After being booed at Stade Saputo, the former TFC striker answered critics with a screamer on his left, scoring the game's only goal. CF MTL are improving with each game. They controlled the game and dictated the rhythm. The problem with this squad has always been finishing, everything else was convincing and has much potential. If the Prince Owusu and Giacomo Vrioni combination starts clicking, this can be a dangerous team. Also, shoutout to Jonathan Sirois, the breakaway save in the first half was a pivotal moment.

🌊 Vancouver Whitecaps vs LAFC. Let’s go. The Caps hosted West Coast giants LAFC, and this game did not disappoint despite the 2-2 draw. LAFC took the lead within the first 20 minutes as they went up 2-0. Vancouver’s response displayed why they’re the best team in the league. The Caps were without Ryan Gauld and Sam Adekugbe, but Brian White answered the call with a brace. The American scored both goals with a header at pivotal moments. A draw at home against LAFC is not the worst result, but Vancouver maintains their position as the top boy of the West.

✅ Northern Picks

This week’s picks come from Erik Edwardson (@erikedwardson).

🎧 What to listen to

Lately I’ve been getting into my summer bag as it approaches so “Wash My Sins Away” by Berlioz has been a constant in my rotation. Also, $$$4U by Drake & PartyNextDoor is aging beautifully and I’ve been playing it front to back in the car on my drives to and from training.

📺 What to watch

As a United supporter, I’ve found some joy and laughter watching Mark Goldbridge’s match day live streams on The United Stand on YouTube. In a season full of disappointment, my Dad and I have enjoyed Mark’s streams and how he is always too high and always too low when watching United play. Bring on the Europa League final!

✅ Who to follow

For anyone who has a strong interest in both football and fashion, @footballerfits on Instagram is a must-follow. You will find daily posts of the world’s best and most stylish footballers. @georgeheaton is also a must-follow for anyone who is motivated by the daily fitness grind and living a luxury lifestyle. Lastly, @innermotivesca is the perfect account to follow if you’re looking to add another up-and-coming footy inspired brand to your feed.