November 2nd Edition

It’s getting colder here in Canada, but playoff season is just heating up across North American footy.

Both the NSL and CPL playoffs kicked off this weekend with some shock results and a lot of goals.

Plus, Toronto FC’s playoff dreams are over, but the Whitecaps have just begun and more in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.

After Cavalry and Forge ran the table in the Canadian Premier League this season, there were questions as to how competitive the first round of the CPL playoffs were going to be.

Well, the slates are clean come playoff time, and it looks like both of those clubs are in for a fight.

A Super semifinal Sunday kicked off where the North Star Cup was lifted a year ago, as Atlético Ottawa twice came back at TD Place to draw 2-2 with Atlético Ottawa.

All four goals came in the space of 28 chaotic minutes in the first half. Anthony Aromatario and Marko Jevremović scored for Forge, and Diego Gutiérrez and Ballou Tabla responded for the capital club. Now they head back to Hamilton, and with no away goals rule, it’s all tied up.

Later that evening in Laval, history was made at Stade Boréale, where FC Supra du Québec stunned Cavalry with a pair of early goals to beat the CPL Shield winners 2-1. It was Supra’s first playoff win in their first-ever playoff game.

A stunner from Zachary Brault-Guillard opened the scoring with a BANGER before a Cavalry own goal inside the opening ten minutes. Tobias Warschewski did eventually reply, however, and Cavalry head back to ATCO Field, where they have not lost in over a year, behind by only a goal.

All four teams will now swap home and away for leg two, set for Sunday, November 8. Forge and Ottawa meet first at Hamilton Stadium, kicking off at 1 p.m. ET, then Supra head to Cavalry’s ATCO Field for a 4 p.m. ET start (3 p.m. MT).

NSL teams have collectively never been shy about scoring goals, and as fans across the league found out this week, that isn’t about to stop in the playoffs, as both AFC Toronto and the Montréal Roses came away with big first leg wins.

Away from any Halloween curses that might still be lingering over BMO Field, Toronto jumped out to an early lead at York Lions Stadium, ultimately running out 4-2 winners over the Ottawa Rapid.

17-year-old defender April Lantaigne kicked off the six-goal thriller with her first ever professional goal. Kaylee Hunter and a Sabrina D’Angelo penalty stop ensured any threats of an Ottawa comeback in the first half were quelled.

It was the second half, however, where the goal fireworks really came out. Lena Silano and Hunter again tacked on two more, giving AFC Toronto a cushion after Choo Hyojoo and Keera Melenhorst found the back of the net.

Across the other end of the country, it was the home side, Vancouver Rise, that found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-0 burst from the Roses.

Elyse Bennett and CanWNT midfielder Mimi Alidou cooked up another 2-0 lead, creating a bit of déjà vu. But, unfortunately for Vancouver, they were unable to reduce the margin as former Rise winger Lisa Pechersky punished her former club in the second half.

That means Ottawa and Vancouver will have a tough test in leg two coming up, as they look to wipe out two-goal and three-goal advantages respectively. Silver linings for the Rise in particular — the NSL does not have away goals in play, so they “only” need to make up three, not four.

Ottawa will host their second leg against Toronto first on Saturday, November 7 at 2 p.m. ET, while Roses vs. Rise will follow up on Sunday, November 8 at 4 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PCT, for our time-travelling west coast readers).

The Vancouver Whitecaps maybe haven’t been making the same headlines as they did last year with their deep Concacaf run and trip to the MLS Cup Final.

But make no mistake, this team is still damn good. Case in point, they clinched their spot as the top team in the Western Conference and throttled rivals Seattle 5-1 on Sunday.

They now go into the playoffs as the top seed, where they will face the winner of the wild card round in the best-of-three round one, starting in late November.

By finishing top of the west, they also punched their ticket to Concacaf, meaning there will be four Canadian teams in the Champions Cup again next year.

Cavalry and Forge from the CPL will join them, with a fourth team to be confirmed by the results of the CPL playoffs.

👏 Jesse Fleming, NWSL Iron Woman. Every minute of every game for Portland. JFlem played a perfect 2,700 minutes for the Rose City this season, rounding out another playoff-qualifying season for the Thorns this weekend in a 2-0 win over Houston.

🇩🇪 A big week for Phonzie. A goal and two assists in a cup win, and 90 minutes in a pulsating Der Klassiker draw against Dortmund. The best of Alphonso Davies could be back for Bayern as they took down Magdeburg, 6-1, before a 2-2 draw against their rivals in Germany’s classic.

🦢 Stephen Eustaqui-GOAL. Canada’s mustachioed vice-captain scored the first goal for Swansea in a confident 4-0 win over Blackburn Rovers this week, tapping in a shot from close range.

🇫🇷 Évelyne Viens can’t stop scoring. Can’t ever complain about more goals. Év scored her second of the UWCL season for Paris FC midweek, slotting one past fellow Canadian Ella McBride’s BK Häcken in a 1-1 draw.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kadeisha Buchanan heads one in. Something about Canucks scoring in the UWCL against other Canucks this week. Keish was in the mixer and looped in a late goal for Chelsea past Roma’s Ella Ottey and Maya Antoine in a 2-0 win.

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🔴 Can Toronto clinch the playoffs? TFC hosted DC United in a must-win matchup to inch closer to a playoff spot. As usual, the opposition scored first in the first half, once again from a lapse of defensive concentration from TFC. However, the home side would respond with a goal from Jonathan Osorio and Josh Sargent. Technically, the American striker scored a brace, but the first goal was given to Oso as it hit off him and found the net. TFC would win 2-1 and inch closer to the playoffs.

Ⓜ️ This is just sad. CF Montréal travelled to Charlotte and were handed a 4-0 defeat by Allan Saint-Maximin and co. The former Newcastle winger was dancing circles around MTL. From kickoff, it was clear CFM was completely demoralized and wanted the season to end. Alexis Sanchez started off the bench, and Prince Owusu was out with an injury. Hennadii Synchuk was the only player who performed well.

🌊 Vancouver continues to stay on top. On the bright side, BC Place continues to be a fortress for the Whitecaps. Last Wednesday, they hosted San Diego FC, and it was business as usual as the Caps dismissed the away team 4-1. The home club picked apart San Diego’s defence, and despite Rayan Elloumi’s red card, the game was already in Vancouver’s hands. Although Elloumi’s action was silly, the ref clearly called a free kick for San Diego. Therefore, the ball was not in play.

🥶 CF Montréal ruined NYCFC’s party. For MTL, the season is over, but NYC still had a chance to fight for a playoff spot. Unfortunately for the home side, MTL ended the game with a 1-1 draw. NYCFC drew first blood, but CFM would respond with a late goal from Daniel Rios. With this draw, NYCFC are out of playoffs and all that MTL can do is troll other teams out of a win.

👏 Vancouver thrashed Cascadia rivals. As written above, the ‘Caps hosted the Seattle Sounders and reminded everyone in the Conference that they will end the season as top dogs. VWFC defeated the Sounders 5-1 with a standout performance from Brian White as he scored a brace. Next week it’ll be a game of polar opposites as the Whitecaps will travel East and face off against last-placed CF Montréal.

❌ Toronto FC are officially out of the playoffs. TFC travelled to Atlanta for a crucial game to keep their playoff hopes alive. Alas, it wasn't their night, as Atlanta United defeated Toronto 3-1. With one game remaining, Toronto are four points shy of a playoff spot. This will be TFC’s sixth straight season without competing in the playoffs. However, on the bright side, this rebuild is looking promising and the club will finish with its highest amount of points since 2020.

Saturday, November 7
CF Montréal vs. Vancouver Whitecaps (4:00 PM ET @ Stade Saputo)
Philadelphia Union vs. Toronto FC (4:00 PM ET)

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