On a beautiful late summer evening at Swangard Stadium, the young Vancouver Rise Academy hosted the far more experienced Gotham FC squad in their second game of the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup.

In the first half, the youthful Vancouver Rise Academy presented themselves well by defending in numbers and forcing Gotham FC to play the ball primarily around the perimeter. The Academy side was content with this approach, and when they did win possession, they counter-attacked quickly with long through balls down both wings.

Gotham FC opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Josie Hasbo headed home a cross, and just three minutes later, Katie Stengel doubled the lead. Vancouver pulled one back in the 14th minute after Anaïs Oularbi made a quick run through the Gotham defense on the right side and saw her shot bounce off the post. Anna Bout was in the right spot to slot the rebound into the unguarded net, bringing the score to 2-1 and giving the crowd of 1,191 fans hope that Vancouver could make the game interesting.

In the second half, Gotham showed why they are one of the top clubs in the National Women’s Soccer League, controlling possession and giving Vancouver few chances to move the ball out of their own half. Esther González extended the lead in the 46th minute, and in stoppage time, Bruninha sealed the result, making the final score 4-1.

Vancouver Rise Academy have two more games in this phase: on October 2, 2025, they travel to Mexico to face CF Monterrey, before closing out on October 16, 2025, against Alianza Women FC at Willoughby Community Park in Langley.