It took 28 hours, a volunteer army, and the snow holding off ahead of kick-off — but the dedicated home crowd at York Lions Stadium saw their side clinch their spot in the inaugural NSL Final, snowballing past their challengers from Laval, 6-1 on aggregate.
Monday night’s semi-final second leg was initially set to be played on Sunday, but the clouds over Toronto had different plans, as just shy of ten centimetres of snow fell over the course of the afternoon.
Even with the grounds crew being aided by a 38-minute delay, and help being called in from the stands, the call was made to postpone, owing to a rock-hard turf underneath the layers of snow and ice.
The two teams reconvened on the York University campus over 24 hours later with the temps still an equally parky minus-3.
The fire on the pitch, however, was present from the off, not least as an on-fire Esther Okoronkwo scored a first-half hat trick to put the Roses on thin ice, as Toronto ultimately ran out 4-1 winners on the night.
Star light, star bright
It was the Esther Okoronkwo show from start to finish, but Victoria Pickett was first to turn heads after AFC Toronto head coach Marko Milanovic again slotted the natural centre-midfielder into his back line.
“It was quite a stressful period for us, converting [Pickett] from midfield to centre-back. Based on her qualities, and some of her habits” — Milanovic, joking “one being trying to dribble out of the box late after a set-piece.”
Playing a line grouping behind her regular position, the North Carolina Courage loanee showed early on why she earned the trust from head coach Marko Milanovic to slot her in at centre-back.
“Obviously, her quality on the ball is important and we were able to play out of the back so many times because of her quality on the ball, her pace, the way she takes space, and on that goal, it was a perfect ball in behind for [Hunter]. It’s not easy to play a different position, something that you haven’t played at all in your career, and to start that in some of the most important games of the year.”
- AFC Toronto head coach Marko Milanovic, post-match
A perfect ball from the loanee split the Roses defence wide open down Toronto’s right flank in the 7th minute, allowing Kaylee Hunter to run on. The 17-year-old outpaced her defender before, like so many other times this season, placing the ball in the feet of Esther Okoronkwo to tap over the line, extending Toronto’s advantage in the tie to three.
Esther Okoronkwo puts Toronto into the lead ⚽ and herself into a snowbank! ☃️ pic.twitter.com/kxJr7lSCst
— Northern Super League (@NorthernSuperLg) November 10, 2025
It was two in short order, just 13 minutes later, as Okoronkwo drove a low free-kick on the short right edge of the Roses’ 18-yard box, won by Hunter putting Mégane Sauvé through a spin cycle.
Roses defender Lucy Cappadona took a hack at the ball, but could only find air — as was the case for Roses ‘keeper Anna Karpenko.
One way traffic so far as Esther Okoronkwo has her second of the night ✌️ pic.twitter.com/LrzMXzgBJG
— Northern Super League (@NorthernSuperLg) November 10, 2025
It seemed almost destined to be when Okoronkwo then completed an NSL-record-pace hat-trick minutes before the half-hour.
On a night where the snow was once again falling, everything seemed to be falling for the team in red as Okoronkwo’s initial shot rebounded back to herself. The Nigerian international then left five Montréal defenders in her wake to score the fifth goal of the tie, keeping a nine-goal pace on the night.
A first-half hat trick for Esther Okoronkwo, finished in style with her trademark left foot. pic.twitter.com/rbbwrRj4V9
— Northern Super League (@NorthernSuperLg) November 10, 2025
Roses captain Tanya Boychuk ended Montréal’s cold streak in the tie with a nicely-struck consolation goal in the 75th minute, but with the snow falling hard and fast from the second half onwards, Lauren Rowe iced the tie with a side-footed finish in the 84th minute.
The pair, naturally, celebrated by doing the worm with substitute April Lantaigne despite the developing layer of blizzard coating the pitch — the new “number one” in the league’s unofficial celebration rankings according to Kaylee Hunter, post-match; Hunter, herself, having made a name for her post-goal antics this season.
Tanya Boychuk scores the Roses' first-ever goal in the NSL Playoffs! pic.twitter.com/nxMfOVQ7qF
— Northern Super League (@NorthernSuperLg) November 11, 2025
Lauren Rowe pads Toronto's lead and pulls out the (winter) worm 🪱 pic.twitter.com/qa3WAIauNJ
— Northern Super League (@NorthernSuperLg) November 11, 2025
Grudge match secured
With their triumph over Montréal in both legs, AFC Toronto finalised the field for the inaugural NSL Final, after Vancouver Rise’s dramatic win on penalties over Ottawa Rapid in the nation’s capital on Saturday.
How ironic it would be, that the two teams in the final would be two of the three first unveiled by the then-named Project 8 in 2022 and 2023, and, the first two regular-season hosts in NSL history after the league’s openers at BC Place and BMO Field.
AFC Toronto and Vancouver Rise have had different paths throughout the season.
Toronto lifted the Supporters Shield, mowing down much of the field in front of them after a brief wobble to start the campaign. Vancouver, meanwhile, fought back through a difficult summer to finish level on points with Ottawa, before returning the favour to the capital club over two legs.
The sides split their season series, 2-1-2, bookending narrow back-and-forth victories with the lone draw, and Toronto’s 7-0 rout of the west coast side. And yet, it was one specific match that AFC Toronto head coach Marko Milanovic honed in on after the game.
“For me, what comes to mind is the earlier [game at BMO Field] we had against them that we lost,” Milanovic mentioned, referring to the Rise’s resilient 1-0 win, despite being reduced to ten after Jasmyne Spencer’s first-half double-booking, over Toronto during the Canadian National Exhibition.
“We really wanted desperately to go back to that field, because that’s the one stadium [where] we haven’t won this year. That’s the one last thing that we need to accomplish.”
AFC Toronto will have that opportunity on Saturday, November 15th, at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) when the NSL’s final showcase kicks off at BMO Field.
