A blustery Saturday afternoon in Laval? No match for AFC Toronto.
The Northern Super League’s regular-season champions added another note to their long list of achievements this season, becoming the first club to win a play-off match after trimming the Roses in a 2-0 result at Stade Boréale.
Marko Milanovic’s side lined up in a four-back to start — something of a rarity after lifting the Supporters’ Shield with a 3-4-2-1 — perhaps necessitated by a dearth of natural centre-backs on the bench, or possibly, to ‘mix it up’ on account of having already met Montréal five times during the regular season.
Whatever the reason, it seemed to work for AFCT, as the visitors kicked off the road party just eight minutes in.
Off a Toronto throw-in inside the Roses’ third, Esther Okoronkwo was able to play the perfect target forward, sheltering the ball from Lucy Cappadona.
In the absence of Kaylee Hunter from the starting eleven, still due to the knock suffered before the international break, Nikayla Small was able to play the perfect foil to Okoronkwo, gain a two-on-one advantage against Cappadona and sweep the ball into the back of the net.
Nikki Small opens the scoring for Toronto within the first 10 minutes! pic.twitter.com/ibeZxQGNt3
— Northern Super League (@NorthernSuperLg) November 1, 2025
Just like the buses for the STM, Montréal’s public transit agency (which incidentally, was on strike this weekend), the chances throughout the rest of the first half came in bunches.
Matching Toronto’s direct play, the Roses nearly found a quick response from the restart, as Hailey Whitaker swung a cross into the back post. AFCT’s Zoe Burns would do just enough to put off Lorie Thibault from finishing the half-chance.
The passage would also replay 22 minutes later, this time, with Burns getting just enough on the ball to poke it out of touch and beyond the reach of Thibault.
At the other end, it was much the same for Toronto.
Lauren Rowe fizzed a ball through both sides of the 18-yard box after it was met by nobody in the 28th minute, before Okoronkwo repeated the feat five minutes later, seeing her ball go agonizingly behind Rowe.
Agonizing, was also the word to describe Chae-rim Kang’s near-miss for Montréal to start the second half. The South Korean international found her way into the box after Colby Barnett took a heavy extra touch trying to control a Roses clearance. Bearing in, Kang beat Sierra Cota-Yarde, only to see her shot also flick off the outside of the post.
Montréal would further rue that chance as Kaylee Hunter made her full impact off the bench in the 71st minute. A collective defensive miscommunication allowed the senior national team call-up to come off the bench — as Milanovic hinted she might — and score the insurance marker for Toronto.
Kaylee Hunter has her first big playoff moment and doubles Toronto's lead 🔥 pic.twitter.com/h0gMpbttwb
— Northern Super League (@NorthernSuperLg) November 1, 2025
There would be some late controversy as Tanya Boychuk was brought down in the box. But, with no real remonstrations from Montréal, referee Marie-Soleil Beaudoin would leave the call be, cementing the final result.
The winners scoring twice has become somewhat of a frequent occurrence in this matchup — of the five meetings between these two sides in the regular season, two ended 2-0, while two more ended 2-1.
Plenty of intrigue also still remains ahead of the second leg of this matchup after the two sides traded two wins at each others’ grounds this season. The trend, only being broken in the final match of the season after AFCT claimed a 2-1 win at York Lions Stadium.
That second leg will take place at York Lions Stadium on November 9th, with the aggregate winner going on to face the winner of the other semi-final between the Vancouver Rise and Ottawa Rapid on November 15th at BMO Field in Toronto.
