What the Vancouver Rise and the Northern Super League offer soccer fans is an exciting brand of play at a price everyone can afford. Saturday’s match against Ottawa Rapid FC turned out to be one of the most thrilling games of the season. On a gorgeous summer afternoon, Swangard Stadium was packed with enthusiastic fans, and both teams came out attacking. By the end of 90 minutes, the game had delivered six goals—capped off by Ottawa’s equalizer in the final seconds of stoppage time.
Right from the kickoff, Ottawa came out attacking, hoping to silence the cheering Vancouver crowd. Vancouver defended well, but in the 14th minute, D.B. Pridham scored for Ottawa on a second attempt after the Vancouver goalkeeper made a strong save on his initial header.
Vancouver equalized two minutes later when Quinn curled a shot from the left side of the box into the far right corner of the Ottawa goal.
It took Ottawa only six minutes to regain the lead, as Choo Hyojoo collected a long diagonal pass down the left wing, then cut sharply to the right to create just enough space from the Vancouver defender to place a low shot into the net from 16 meters out.
Vancouver immediately applied pressure and nearly equalized in the 38th minute with a volley off a corner kick, but the ball sailed over the crossbar. They found the equalizer a minute later after a blunder by Melissa Dagenais, who rolled the ball out to a teammate, only for it to be intercepted by Samantha Chang. Chang quickly fed it forward to Lisa Pechersky, who slid the ball past the Ottawa goalkeeper.
Ottawa was the aggressor in the first half, but right from the second-half kickoff, Vancouver took control of the game. In the 59th minute, they took the lead for the first time when Holly Ward scored her third goal of the season. She split two Ottawa defenders on the left side of the box, and with the Ottawa goalkeeper slightly exposing the left corner while anticipating a pass into the middle, Ward slid a perfectly placed shot into the left corner of the net.
Vancouver fought to maintain the lead and held possession for most of injury time, but in the final minute, Ottawa managed to send Kayla Adamek down the left wing. She shook off a Vancouver defender and curled a shot into the right corner of the net, allowing Ottawa to earn a point and stay two units ahead of Vancouver in the standings.
Vancouver will now play their next three games on the road before returning to Swangard Stadium on August 30, 2025, to face Montreal Roses FC.
