AFC Toronto secure playoff berth in NSL’s largest victory yet

By Mitchell Fox 

Photos by Daniel Carrero

AFC Toronto delivered their most dominant win of their inaugural season on Saturday afternoon, defeating Vancouver Rise FC 7-0 at York Lions Stadium (YSL) and becoming the first team to clinch a spot in the Northern Super League playoffs.

The home side made no mistake in setting a franchise and league record, overcoming a pair of 6-0 victories by none other than Rise FC for the highest score by one team. 

AFC were firing on all cylinders from kickoff to final whistle and got contributions from not only the usual suspects—two goals each for forwards Esther Okoronkwo and Kaylee Hunter—but three brand new goal scorers: Kaela Hansen, Sarah Stratigakis and Jade Kovacevic each netted their first tallies with the squad.

Toronto assistant coach Sylvia Forbes said everyone on the field could feel a boost from goals from new scorers. 

“Any team is going to feel more confident when you start to open things up, right? So it's just very enjoyable to see that happen in a game, and be able to see the joy on the players faces,” she said.

The game’s standout player, Okoronkwo opened the scoring in the sixth minute. After Hunter was fouled just outside the box, the CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations champion stepped up for a free kick, delivering a left-foot strike that arced into the top corner of the net. 

Rise FC coach Anja Heiner-Moeller said giving up the first goal early in a game is difficult, but her team has shown they can manage that, including against AFC—their matchup earlier this season at YSL ended in a 1-1 draw thanks to a 90th minute goal.

“Just keeping in the game with one goal, we can do that, definitely. Two and three, that's hard,” she said.

In the 10th minute, the match’s first booking turned out to be a consequential one, as Vancouver striker Jessica Di Filippo was given a yellow card for shooting into the goal after an offside whistle. That offside not only spoiled one of Vancouver’s best chances, but marked the beginning of a slew of yellow cards handed out by referee Angelina Baldino.

Six minutes later, the game’s second yellow card was handed to Vancouver’s Jaylyn Wright after she tugged on Okoronkwo’s jersey. 

The league’s fourth best scorer continued to test Wright on the right side of the pitch, completing swift dribbles and neat through balls past her. Not only was her production in the final third coming to fruition, but her playmaking posted a constant threat to Vancouver that forced on a lockdown defence for the rest of the half.

At the other end of the field, Toronto showcased the defensive play that has now earned them three straight clean sheets, taking advantage of a large gap between Vancouver’s midfield and attacking line by pressuring Quinn extra hard.

“The back line has been really good as of late,” said Forbes. “Their focus and their determination to take on the information that we've been giving them has been really good. They've come together as a group. That's the full set of defenders: our whole front five and going all the way to the back.”

Frustration showed for Rise FC with yellow cards in the 38th and 39th minutes, however their offence had begun to challenge AFC with Okoronkwo on the sideline due to an apparent knee injury.

Though Rise FC pushed hard through the 40th minute, the announcement of five minutes of injury time seemed to open Toronto’s eyes to opportunity before halftime. Within seconds of that reveal, Hunter delivered a low-driven shot past McAslan’s right side, straight into the bottom corner of the net.

“How you start the game, how you finish a half, those are all very important moments for us. So I think we're starting to really focus in on those areas where we can put a team away,” said AFC’s captain Emma Regan. “If you're up one, you're up two, they still have a bit of hope in the game, and we want to put them away. Even at halftime, we were saying in the locker room that we needed more goals.”

With the 2-0 lead, Toronto kept pushing. As the whistle approached, AFC added another to their total. A corner kick landed in Hansen’s lap on the goal line, and following a scramble in the box, the Burnaby, B.C. product potted her first of the season. 

Toronto ran to their bench to celebrate a second successful goal with the person in charge of perfecting their set pieces: Forbes. 

“We really wanted to get that one for [Forbes]. She's been amazing coming up with different set pieces for us, down to the detail every week,” said Regan.

While Toronto celebrated, Rise FC players went to Baldino to protest the goal. The result was a second yellow for Di Filippo.

With 10 players and down three goals, Vancouver sought a balance between urgency and safe positioning in the second half, but Toronto gave them no room to establish either. In the 50th minute, Stratigakis received a lobbed cross from Zoe Burns and deposited a powerful header to the left side of the goal for her first goal for the club.

Rise FC tried to push back with attacks by Latifah Abdu and Samantha Chang but were stumped by a strong defensive effort by Croix Soto and a diving save by Sierra Cota-Yarde respectively. From there, a clear sign of a game out of hand came with a quadruple substitution by the visitors, which included taking out key players Quinn and Abdu.

AFC kept pushing, though they did make substitutions of their own, bringing Aio Kizaki and Nyota Katembo—her first game back from injury—into the fold. A minute later, Okoronkwo added her second goal of the afternoon, narrowly avoiding an offside call and finishing off a play crafted by Kizaki and Katembo with a shot past McAslan. 

The Rise joined the rare club of a team to play in back-to-back 6-0 games in the 69th minute. Hunter scored her second goal of the match, extending a difficult day for McAslan with a shot that hit her on the way into the goal.

With the 6-0 lead, Toronto made three more substitutions, bringing Cloey Uddenberg, Kovacevic and April Lantaigne into the game. Okoronkwo came out, earning a roaring ovation from the 2,917 home fans at YSL.

Kovacevic’s goal in the 86th minute was her first of the season, marking a major occasion in a long year that began with being the NSL’s first player signing and included an extended absence from the lineup due to injury.

“To get myself on the gamesheet today…it's a part of how training has gone for me…it feels really good for me to see the product,” said Kovacevic.

Adding insult to injury, the Rise were offered a chance to break AFC’s clean sheet with a penalty kick in injury time but Chang missed wide. 

Kovacevic attempted to pass to Hunter to complete her hat trick in the final seconds, but 7-0 proved enough for AFC to showcase the best version of their team at an important time in the season.

“This is how we think that we should have been playing all year. So it's not really a shock to me that we're starting to put the pieces together. This is how we want to play. This is how we want to be playing going into playoffs,” said Regan.

NEXT UP: AFC Toronto will host Halifax Tides FC at YSL on Sunday, Sept. 21 to close out their current home stand.