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November 10th Edition
Atlético Ottawa are CPL Champions, Vancouver Rise book their NSL Final ticket, and CanMNT dual national recruitment.
You know what they say: there’s no business like snow business.
Between a snowy battle for the North Star Cup in Ottawa and a snow delayed NSL semi-final in Toronto, Mother Nature made her presence felt this week in Canadian footy.
Plus, the Vancouver Rise book their ticket to the NSL Final, the CanMNT roster drop features exciting new dual-nationals, CanM17 making waves at the U-17 World Cup, and much more ahead in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.
In this week's edition:
CanMNT
🇨🇦 CanMNT dual-national recruitment
Canada Soccer
It’s been a minute since a CanMNT squad dropped with any real surprises. But it looks like Jesse Marsch has been cooking on the recruitment front over the past few months.
Canada’s squad for the November window, where they will face Ecuador at home at Toronto’s BMO Field on Thursday, November 13 and Venezuela on Tuesday, November 18 at Chase Stadium in Florida (OneSoccer / TSN), features two first-time call-ups.
Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Owen Goodman, and 28-year-old Middlesbrough central defender Alfie Jones are exciting dual-nationals getting their first CanMNT calls. Attacking midfielder Marcelo Flores, meanwhile, has been called into the team as a training player.
That is an exciting group of dual-nationals for both the present and the future. In particular with 21-year-old Goodman, who is on loan from Crystal Palace and one of the most exciting young goalkeepers in the English system having won EFL League Two goalkeeper of the year last season.
Flores, meanwhile, is an intriguing one as well, having previously suited up for Mexico at the senior level, but, born in Georgetown, is still eligible to file a one-time switch to Canada.
There are a few surprises as well, with no Jacob Shaffelburg and Luc de Fougerolles, but both have since been revealed to be cautionary as the players have been dealing with lingering injuries.
Otherwise, it’s a strong squad for Canada, who will look to bounce back from a scoreless window in October and get some more big results against South American opposition.
CPL
❄️ Atlético Ottawa win frozen battle to lift their first North Star Cup
Vitor Munhoz / Canadian Premier League
Can you do it on a snowy night in Ottawa? Atlético Ottawa has answered that question. Ottleti have lifted the North Star Cup at home in front of 15,000 fans in a snowstorm. The driving snow made this final an instant classic.
Heartbreak for Tommy Wheeldon Jr and the Cavs. The defending champions were relentless. Tobias Warschewski was on the prowl and was one with the snow. Goteh Ntignee was a terror down the wing. Cavalry’s defensive line had been resolute against Ottawa’s attack. Despite the Cavs coming out swinging, it was not enough. They were missing the X factor. Atlético’s David Rodriguez was that guy.
David Rodriguez, take a bow. The Mexican baller made it look like he had been playing in snow his entire life. He was unplayable. After going down 1-0 in the 33rd minute, Rodriguez replied with a FIFA Puskas award contender with a bicycle kick in the 40th. Rodriguez would later score the winner in extra time in the 107th minute. He is him. If only Mexico had him at the Iceteca.
Champions Cup bound. With this win, Atlético Ottawa are now qualified for the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup. They will be joining Vancouver Whitecaps, Vancouver FC and Forge FC in the international competition.
A historic game for the books. We all know the magic of CPL playoffs, but the added factor of the snowstorm has made this game a viral sensation. CBS Golazo, OvertimeFC, BR Football, Fox Sports, the list goes on.
This is Canadian football. Blizzard, bangers and vibes.
NSL
🌌 NSL Final is (almost) set
NSL
After a long-awaited pre-season, grueling 25-match regular-season, and two one and a half do-or-die semi-finals, the inaugural Diana B. Matheson Cup will go to one of three clubs: the Vancouver Rise, AFC Toronto, or the Montréal Roses.
The Rise were first to book their spot in the Final, after downing the Ottawa Rapid in the league’s first-ever penalty shootout decider. After the two teams traded 2-1 wins at home over the two legs, they went an extra six rounds with Sofia Hagman netting the winning penalty for Vancouver.
In the other semi-final, well… we won’t know until Monday. As it happened, the same snow that blew through Ottawa also featured in Toronto on Sunday. At first, it was a 38-minute delay, only to balloon into a full postponement with the rock-solid turf and weather conditions unbefitting a semi-final in the league’s eyes.
AFC Toronto and Montréal Roses will, as a result, face off on Monday at 6 p.m. ET to determine the second spot in next Sunday’s Final. In a nice gesture, the clubs and league have stated they’ll honour tickets not only for the rescheduled match, but also the Finals, for those that tried to attend on Sunday.
The crowning pinnacle of a successful first season for the fledgling league, the NSL Final is set for November 15 at 2 PM ET at BMO Field in Toronto. Tickets for the party are still available via the NSL website.
CanM17
🏆 CanM17 draw with France
Canada Soccer
The kids really are alright.
Following in the footsteps of the Canadian women’s U-17s squad, the men’s U-17s side have also let fly at the FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup in Qatar with an undefeated start in Group K.
And, what a ride it’s been already. Canada opened the group with their first-ever win at a U-17 Men’s World Cup in style against Uganda. Down 1-0 in the 88th minute, Canada completed a 2-1 comeback with LAFC2’s Marius Aiyenero scoring from the spot thanks to a coaches’ challenge.
They also held 2023 runners-up France to a 0-0 draw. Canada even had a chance to go 1-0 up, only for Les Bleus to clear a Van Parker and Shola Jimoh counter-attack off the line.
Now, they’re on the edge of making history: advancing from the group stage for the first time in seven World Cup appearances. All they need is one point in their final group stage game against Chile.
That match is set for November 11th at 7:30 AM ET (4:30 AM PT) on TSN and RDS.
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Canucks Abroad
🌍 Canucks Abroad
Concacaf
🏴 Jonathan David to London? Well, this isn’t exactly how we expected this to happen, but we may soon have a leading CanMNT name in the Prem. Rumours surfaced this week that with a tough start to life at Juve under Igor Tudor and now Luciano Spaletti, both Tottenham and Chelsea are monitoring the striker as a reinforcement option.
🥇 Jonathan David wins CONCACAF Men’s Player of the Year. It’s not all bad if you’re the Iceman though. David’s exploits for the CanMNT in CONCACAF from last August to this July have earned him Men’s POTY honours. He is just the second Canadian to win after Alphonso Davies did so in 2021 and 2022.
🇩🇪 Bundesliga on OneSoccer? That’s right. OneSoccer are now the official broadcast partners of the Bundesliga in Canada — TBD on what this means for DAZN. Nevertheless, CSB have been quick to move since publishing their vision document last month. In it, the organization outlined a desire to “expand rights strategically” and they seem to have already made inroads.
🏴 A clean sheet for Sabrina D’Angelo. It’s not always easy being a goalkeeper. Especially against an undefeated Manchester United side. But that’s what Sabs did, making two saves as Villa handed United their first loss of the WSL season in a 1-0 final.
🇨🇭 Theo Bair roams free, hunting for goals. Apparently, clubs in Europe haven’t gotten the message to pick up some Bair spray. That’s good news for Lausanne’s leading man. He scored his eighth of the season with a low finish from outside the box in a 1-1 draw against Omonoia in the Conference League on Thursday.
🇪🇸 Tajon Buchanan (almost) assist (twice). It wasn’t official, but they all count the same in our hearts. Tajon came one pass and one rebound away from two assists as Villarreal beat Espanyol, 2-0. Tani also started in this one, making a cameo on the first goal.
MLS
⚽️ MLS News & Recaps
MLS
🧤 It has been a good week for Dayne St. Clair. From winning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and a spot in the 2025 MLS Best XI to moving onto the next round of playoffs after a dramatic penalty shootout. Minnesota United have knocked out West Coast heavyweights Seattle Sounders. Dayne made five saves in open play, one penalty save and scored a pen himself. Oh, and MNUFC’s video with DSC’s reaction to being named GKOTY was pretty cool too.
❌ Wilfried Nancy and the Columbus Crew are out. The Crew travelled to Cincinnati in game three of the playoffs, where they were defeated 2-1. Despite the loss, Jacen Russell-Rowe came off the bench in the 39th minute and was an immediate impact. JRR found the back of the net in the 63rd minute.
🦩 Messi ends Nashville’s run. Jacob Shaffelburg and Nashville were defeated 4-0 in game three of the MLS playoffs against Inter Miami. Shaff came on in the second half of the game but Inter Miami’s rhythm was that of a runaway train. Above all, it was a vintage Messi performance. With this win, Inter Miami will be playing Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference semifinal.
🪓 The Portland Timbers have been knocked out. Kamal Miller, James Pantemis and Maxime Crépeau have been shown the exit after being defeated by San Diego FC 4-0. San Diego will now face Dayne St. Clair and Minnesota United in the conference semifinal.
👀 Marc Dos Santos back in the hot seat?. MDS and LAFC will first have to get through the Vancouver Whitecaps. But, if they do, there might be a pretty ironic reward at the end of it. LAFC may not have to look far as The Athletic reports Dos Santos is the current front-runner for when current head coach Steve Cherundolo departs the club this winter, though nothing has been fully decided.
MLS playoff fixtures:
Saturday, November 22nd (Conference semi-final)
Vancouver Whitecaps vs. LAFC (Time TBD @ BC Place)
Canadian Premier League
🍁 CPL News & Recaps
CPL
The award goes to… On Friday night in Ottawa, the winners were announced for this year’s 2025 CPL awards:
🏅 Player of the Year: Samuel Salter (Atletico Ottawa)
🏅 Coach of the Year: Bobby Smyrniotis (Forge FC)
🏅 Player’s Player of the Year: Samuel Salter (Atletico Ottawa)
🏅 Defender of the Year: Daniel Nimick (Forge FC)
🏅 Golden Boot: Samuel Salter with 19 goals (Atletico Ottawa)
🏅 Golden Glove: Jassem Koleilat (Forge FC)
🏅 Best Canadian U21 Player: Tiago Coimbra (Halifax Wanderers)
🎽 Goodbye Macron, hello hummel. The Danish-based sportswear has Canada on lock. First, they secured the NSL and League1 Canada. Now hummel has secured the CPL as the league’s official kit apparel supplier starting in 2026.
📈 The Canadian Premier League is growing. Canadian Soccer Business Group CEO James Johnson shared some good news on CPL Final media day. One of the highlights addressed was the success of the TSN partnership, which has reached 1.7 million Canadians. The full press conference can be found here.