With Vancouver Rise, the hottest team in the Northern Super League, going up against the Montreal Roses—who entered the match two points ahead—this game was vital for both sides. A win would push the Rise into second place, while a loss would drop them to fourth, five points back of the Roses. What promised to be a thriller turned out to be exactly that.

Vancouver nearly took the lead 11 minutes in when a Montreal defender tentatively tried to nudge a long through ball back to the goalkeeper, but Lisa Pechersky pounced on it, only to see her shot sail over the crossbar. In the 17th minute, Tanya Boychuck blocked a clearing attempt, pounced on the loose ball, and broke in on the Vancouver goal from 22 meters out, firing a perfectly placed shot into the top right corner to give Montreal a 1-0 lead.

Eight minutes later, Vancouver tied the game when Holly Ward took a pass from Quinn and sent a low, hard shot out of the Montreal goalkeeper’s reach. In stoppage time at the end of the first half, Lisa Pechersky made up for her earlier miss with a brilliant individual effort. Charging down the right side, she cut inside toward the six-meter box and curled a perfectly placed ball into the top left corner.

In the second half, both teams tightened up defensively, and the match became more tactical. Rather than sitting back, Vancouver continued to push forward, which limited Montreal’s chances to equalize.

With the victory, Vancouver Rise have now gone seven games unbeaten. They also hold the league’s best home record with 18 points from 10 matches.

Vancouver’s next game is on September 6, when they host Calgary Wild, while Montreal will play its next match on September 7 in Ottawa.