Happy Monday! It was Shield week in Canadian soccer.

Forge repeated as CPL regular season winners, while just up the road at York Lions Stadium, AFC Toronto hoisted the inaugural NSL Supporters’ Shield as the regular season champions.

Plus, the Canadian women’s national team are back in action with a pair of European friendlies, CanMNT ties Colombia, a new dual national for CanMNT and more on this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.

For the first time since July, the Canadian women’s national team take the pitch on Friday in Lucerne, Switzerland, where they will face the 24th-ranked Swiss national team.

The match kicks off at 1:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 p.m. PT on OneSoccer. Canada’s squad features three players called up for the first time: 17-year-old Kaylee Hunter of AFC Toronto, 20-year-old PSG midfielder Florianne Jourde and 28-year-old Nantes goalkeeper Emily Burns.

Several players were unavailable through injury, including Vanessa Gilles, Kadeisha Buchanan, and Lysianne Proulx. Annabelle Chukwu and Kayla Briggs, meanwhile, were left off under mutual agreements with their NCAA programs.

CanWNT last played the Swiss in the round of 16 at the 2015 World Cup hosted in Canada, beating them 1-0 at BC Place in Vancouver.

Canada also play the following Tuesday, October 28, against the 11th-ranked Dutch national team in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Allez Les Rouges!

The inaugural NSL regular season came to an end on Sunday in Toronto as AFC Toronto lifted the Supporters’ Shield.

In a dominant first season, AFC Toronto finished the season 12 points ahead of any other club, ending the season with a 2-1 win over the Montréal Roses.

That match was a playoff preview as it turned out, as AFC Toronto and Montréal Roses will meet in the opening game of the NSL Playoffs on November 1 in Montréal. They play a two-legged home and away series, with the winner advancing to the final. The second leg is on November 9 in Toronto

The other semi-final features the second-place Ottawa Rapid against the 3rd place Vancouver Rise. That begins on November 4 in Vancouver, and concludes on November 8 in the nation’s capital.

The winners of those respective series will compete in the inaugural NSL Final on November 15 at Toronto’s BMO Field.

Seven years, six trophies.

Forge FC continued their incredible CPL dynasty on Saturday by lifting the CPL Shield as regular-season winners. All they needed was a point on the final day of the season to finish above Atlético Ottawa, but they did so in emphatic fashion with a 3-0 victory over York United.

By winning the shield, Forge also qualifies for the Concacaf Champions Cup for the fourth time in club history. They are yet to win a match in the continental competition, but after drawing three of the top clubs in Mexico in their past appearances, perhaps they will get a more favourable draw this time around.

Now, it’s playoff time in the CPL. It all starts on Wednesday, as the Halifax Wanderers host Forge in the 4th vs. 5th knockout match. The winner of that game advances to play defending champions Cavalry FC on Sunday, October 26.

That same day, Forge will host Atlético Ottawa in the Championship semifinal, with the winner advancing to and hosting the CPL Final on Sunday, November 9. The loser, meanwhile, will host the winner of Cavalry vs. Halifax/York for a second chance to reach the final.

Lessons learned from Australia. After their 0-1 defeat to Australia at Stade Saputo, CanMNT have adapted their game against 13th-ranked Colombia in New Jersey. With a 0-0 scoreline, there are positives to take away along with some issues to address.

Another friendly feeling like a competitive match. Just like the Australia game, Canada’s match against Colombia felt like a Copa America game. In other words, passion, great football and awful reffing. The officiating was abysmal. Otherwise, a thoroughly entertaining affair.

Decent performance from the backline. Canada’s defeat to Australia came from the one mistake from youngster Niko Sigur. This time around, the backline was solid and didn’t miss a beat. It has prompted discussions if Niko Sigur and Richie Laryea should start over Alphonso Davies and Alistair Johnston.

Should Canada be concerned with the finishing? There is one consistent theme in CanMNT’s friendlies, finishing. Cyle Larin seems to have lost that x factor in the box and Jonathan David seems to have become more of a playmaker than finisher. Whether it is Tani Oluwaseyi or Promise David starting with JD, Canada are struggling to finish. One Soccer’s Alex Gangué-Ruzic wrote an in-depth piece addressing the topic.

Rumoured future friendlies. As reported by Joshua Kloke, Canada Soccer has contacted FIFA top 10 ranked teams for future friendlies in March and June 2026. These will be pivotal exhibition matches prior to the World Cup in 2026. Canada vs France in Montreal? CanMNT vs England in Toronto? or a game against Germany in Vancouver? Or even versus Brazil anywhere? All sounds quality to us.

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👀 Alfie Jones to CanMNT? A new name is at the top of Jesse Marsch’s potential dual-nat recruitment list. Jones is a 28-year-old centre-back, currently plying his trade for Middlesbrough in the Championship. According to The Athletic’s Joshua Kloke, Jones may qualify through a grandparent and could suit up as soon as November.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Brace for Junior Hoilett. As in, Junior scored a brace this weekend in Hibs’ 4-0 win over Livingston. Although, the CanMNT may need to be ready to call the veteran winger back up. Both goals were well taken, too.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Liam Millar assist. Also making a run for form on Saturday, was Liam Millar, after playing bit parts of both CanMNT friendlies in October. Millar sliced through the high-value back line, teeing up the winning goal after big individual effort.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dan Jebbison assist. Jebbison also picked up a helper in Championship action this weekend. Although Preston fell 2-1 to West Brom, Jebbo’s assist — his first of the season — was good to see.

🇪🇸 Tajon Buchanan scores. Tajon is back in the goals for Villarreal. His screamer in a 2-2 draw against Real Betis wasn’t the only highlight. He also narrowly missed out on supplying Tani Oluwaseyi with his first LaLiga goal, after Tani was denied by the keeper.

🇮🇹 Évelyne Viens assist. Ev’s return to form is also seemingly going to plan. Viens’ vision helped Roma double their lead in an eventual 3-1 win over Napoli on Sunday. Excellent timing ahead of the CanWNT’s October tour of Europe.

☄️ Jacob Shaffelburg scores. It was a good weekend for Canadian wingers. Shaff joined Hoilett and Buchanan in the goal-scorers club. The goal put Nashville up 2-0 at half-time. Just, uh, ignore that it ended 5-2 to Inter Miami after a Leo Messi hat-trick.

💜 Janine Sonis scores. Hoilett, Buchanan, Shaffelburg, and then Sonis. Janine joined the crew to cap off Sunday. Her strike from downtown wrong-footed both defender and goalkeeper in a 2-2 draw against Gotham.

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🔵 CF Montréal’s loss summarized their season. It’s over. The 2025 campaign for MTL has been an arduous one. This past weekend, they travelled to Cincinnati and were handed a 3-0 defeat. CFM’s midfield played decently and the wingers were finding their spaces but they lacked the finishing. To make matters worse, Prince Owusu missed his first penalty of the season. After the game, the striker was subjected to racial abuse online. Montréal’s season on and off the pitch has ended at an absolute low.

🔴 Meanwhile, Toronto FC end the season on a high. Let’s summarize TFC’s game against Orlando City: Oso BANGER. Milhailovic with a brace. Deandre Kerr with an easy finish. Sean Johnson making clutch saves. This is the Toronto people wanted all season. Orlando were no pushovers, they applied tremendous offensive pressure but TFC handled the waves of attack as effectively as possible. The game ended 4-2 for Toronto and they have foundations of a strong team in 2026.

🌊 The Vancouver Whitecaps finished second in the West. The Caps hosted Dallas FC at BC place and their regular season did not end the way they wanted. An early red card on Vancouver’s Matias Laborda in the 11th minute changed the game. Dallas took the lead but the Caps still played a competitive game. Thomas Muller’s penalty equalized the game. In the end, Dallas defeated Vancouver 2-1. With this loss. Vancouver finished second the Western conference, solidifying San Diego in first place.

Sunday, October 26th (Game 1)
Vancouver Whitecaps vs. FC Dallas (4:30 PM PT @ BC Place)

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🔨 The Forge dynasty continues. York United travelled to Hamilton to face-off against regular season champs Forge FC. It was a rough game for the away team as Forge defeated them 3-0. Forge have also qualified for the Concacaf 2026 Champions Cup.

🏟️ Ottawa with a last-minute win. The Halifax Wanderers hosted Atletico Ottawa to a competitive game that could’ve gone either way. It looked like this game was going to end in a 0-0 draw until Richlord Ennin scored a banger in the 89th minute. Assistant coach Diego Mejia picked up a red in stoppage time after reacting to a tackle on Kevin Ortega. The game ended 0-1 win for Ottawa.

🔱 Pacific end the season with an absolute low. PFC’s last game of the season was a depressing one. A 4-1 defeat to Valour and a red card in the 83rd minute, this was a frustrating game for Pacific. For Valour, this was a positive way to end the campaign after a being winless in the last four games.

🐴 Cavalry held to a draw in Vancouver. The Calgarians played in Vancouver and were held to a 2-2 draw against VFC. It was a game that was defined in the second half as all four goals came after the 78th minute. For Vancouver to finish the game in a draw was impressive as their fullback Tyler Crawford was shown a red in the 60th minute. Silver lining for the home side.

Wednesday, October 22nd (Knockout Match)
Halifax Wanderers vs. York United (7:30 PM AT @ Wanderers Grounds)

Sunday, October 26th (Championship Semi-final and Semi-final Qualifier)
Forge FC vs. Atlético Ottawa (2 PM ET @ Hamilton Stadium)
Cavalry FC vs. winner of Halifax Wanderers/York United (4 PM MT @ ATCO Field)

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🪽 Delaney Pridham ends the season as top scorer. Ottawa Rapid travelled to Halifax to play against the Tides. Ottawa tucked away two goals in the first half while Halifax were only able to respond with a goal from Megumi Nakamura in the 73rd minute. Pridham ends the season with 18 goals and 3 assists. Despite not finding the net this game, she ends the season on a personal high. The game ended with a 1-2 loss for the Tides.

🦉 Calgary end the season on a high. The Wild did not have the best 2025 campaign, however, they end their season on a high with a 2-1 win against playoffs qualified Vancouver Rise. Calgary took the lead with a penalty in the 31st and a clinical counter-attacking within the opening minutes of the second half. Vancouver held majority of the possession but Calgary were effective in their counter-attack. A positive way to end the season.

🛡️ AFC Toronto lifted the Supporters’ Shield at home. Toronto end the season on a high. They lifted the inaugural Supporters’ Shield at home ground while defeating rivals Roses de Montréal 2-1. Toronto are looking good with a winning momentum as they enter the playoff season.

Saturday, November 1st (Semi-finals, first leg)
Montréal Roses vs. AFC Toronto (12 PM ET @ Stade Boréale)

Tuesday, November 4th (Semi-finals, first leg)
Vancouver Rise vs. Ottawa Rapid (7 PM PT @ Swangard Stadium)

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