The Vancouver Rise looked to stay hot.
The green and gold were unbeaten in seven games heading into a Saturday afternoon match with the Calgary Wild at Swangard Stadium. That is a record in the NSL’s young season.
Heading into the match, the Rise sat second in the NSL table. With 29 points, they were one ahead of the Montreal Roses and Ottawa Rapid FC.
New signing Latifah Adbu was also making her debut on Rise.
On this warm and muggy September day, the Rise looked to extend the winning streak to four games and keep the good momentum going heading into the playoffs.
It’s safe to say, they accomplished that mission in style.
First half: Pressing and a Golazo
The Rise had the bulk of possession early on. They were also doing well with the press. Holly Ward and Latifah Abdu were causing problems for the Wild on the wings.
In the 14th minute, the goal came. Jessica Di Filippo did an excellent job pressing Wild goalkeeper Stephanie Bukovec, and she found Abdu in front of the open net. That was a goal for the debutant. Maybe Di Filippo watched Ali Ahmed’s goal yesterday for the Canada MNT.
Vancouver continued with their active press. De Filippo, Ward, and Abdu were leading the charge and threatening the Calgary defenders. Quinn was also really dictating the midfield like a metronome.
With the Rise’s attacking, transitions were a concern. The Wild caught the Rise napping defensively a few times, but the shots were easily saved by Morgan McAslan. Kennedy Faulknor also had a couple of missteps.
De Filippo was having herself a half. She was everywhere, winning the ball back and using her strength to evade defenders. Just before halftime, she caught Bukovec napping and scored an absolute banger.
That capped off a very good half for the Rise.
Second half: Delayed but momentum got even better
Due to the threat of lightning in the area, the second-half restart was delayed 35 minutes. There was rain, but nothing more than a few sprinkled showers.
The Rise continued to win the ball back with determination. The long passes were also working as the Rise looked threatening on the transitions.
Abdu continued to have a debut to remember. Holly Ward put the pass on a platter, and Abdu easily finished it.
Abdu then came off for Mariah Lee with a big standing ovation from the Swangard crowd.
Calgary had a couple of decent chances to get back into the game. It was clear they didn’t want to go down quietly into the evening. Michelle Romero was denied by McAslan and soon after hit the crossbar.
But the Rise also wanted more. After a great run into the box, Lisa Pechersky won a penalty. Bukovec dove the right way on the penalty kick, but Quinn found the tight space in the corner.
By this time, the little bit of rain had stopped. But Vancouver didn’t. Quinn’s corner was headed in by Lee. The vibes were high at Swangard.
But that wasn’t the end of that. Lisa Pechersky decided to test Bukovec from a distance, and she, too, scored a banger. Let’s talk about six,baby!
This was the second time the Rise won 6-0. They beat the Halifax Tides in Halifax 6-0 on July 19. But it is even sweeter to do it at home.
Vancouver extended their unbeaten run to eight and their winning streak to four. They are the hottest team in the NSL right now and couldn’t have picked a better time to do it. And what a win this was. The Rise made sure they didn’t let the foot come off the gas and made sure McAslan got the clean sheet despite some close calls.
Stat of the match
According to FotMob, Quinn completed 62 passes. That was the most out of any player in the match.
What was said
“We’re building momentum and we’re just proud of each other,” said Di Filippo after the match. “We want everyone to find the way and find the goal. I think that’s what’s helping us is how many people scored today. What’s really big about this team is everyone’s getting a goal, and I think that’s what makes us dangerous.”
“I saw a team that came together and did well on scoring goals, of course, but also having periods in the game where we needed to do better, said Rise head coach Anja Heiner-Moller. “They took that under their wing and still tried to fix those things.”
“It’s confidence-building in the team, but I think it also shows that many players are actually contributing with deep runs and coming into the box and taking those chances.”
“It’s been an awesome season,” said McAslan on the season as a whole and the current run in good form. “I think at the start we were really struggling the first little bit to find our chemistry and figure out what was working for us. I think it took a little bit to get going. But now that we are in a bit of a rhythm and a flow, and we have such a deep bench and so many more people can come on. I feel now we’ve established our identity and know what we’re good at doing, and know we’re going to be together as a team. It’s been awesome to see us kind of have a lot of momentum and really figure out the last eight games.”
One of the things Lee spoke about was the extended halftime break.
“Sometimes those breaks give you a time to rest and reflect more so than like a short halftime break,” she said. “So we had a lot of tactical input, but then we had time to kind of relax, turn the music up, and then re-energize. Everybody came back out there with even more energy.”
Wrap-up
The Rise head back on the road to face AFC Toronto next Saturday. Kickoff is at 11 AM Pacific. Can they extend their unbeaten streak to nine?
