In the first playoff match of their young but growing history, Vancouver Rise grabbed a scrappy 2-1 win over Ottawa Rapid.
A first-half brace from Latifah Abdu put the Rise on the path to victory; however, that was halved by a hard-worked goal from Delaney Baie Pridham in the second.
Rise head coach Anja Heiner-Møller said there were a lot of questions for the squad with the uncertainty of the playoffs, but she thought they held themselves well.
“This is [the] playoffs,” she said. “We don’t know what will the nerves do. And we’re at home. I feel the pressure is more on us. I’m really happy about how the team handled that.”
While both teams lined up evenly on paper, a quick double salvo from the Rise left Ottawa wondering whether they should have stayed at home.
The Rise took an early lead in the 15th minute. Melissa Dagenais’s clearance was turned over by pressure at the edge of the 18-yard box from Samantha Chang. The ball cleared free to Abdu, who turned inside on her right foot and hit a bouncer past the Rapid goalkeeper
Abdu doubled her tally in the 22nd minute. Lisa Pechersky’s quick pass found Jessika De Filippo streaking down the right. Her cross found the Rise striker who controlled the ball, held it away from her defender and turned into the net by the near post.
Ottawa did wake up in the second half. Pridham cut the Rise’s lead in half in the 68th minute, turning into space at the top of the box and unleashing a hard, low shot past Morgan McAslan.
Even before the goal, it felt as though Ottawa had found their footing. Their ball movement was better, and the Rise were no longer winning those second balls as easily as they had done in the first half.
“I think we saw a few times in there where we were really good on the ball, but those moments were not long enough, and we didn’t do it often. We were not as much in control as we wanted. And I also feel like the team has high expectations. We want to win our way, and I don’t think we did that in the second half,” Heiner-Møller said.
The Rapid had an opportunity to tie the match late in the half. However, the heroics of Jasmyne Spencer, the last woman at the back, dispossessed the Ottawa attacker with an expertly timed challenge.
Second leg in Ottawa
The Rise have the one-goal lead, but that is a slim margin given the hostile environment of Ottawa.
But perhaps the Rise can take solace in the fact that Ottawa did better on the road this season than at home. The Rapid lost as many matches at home as they won (five apiece) and drew three.
“Of course, we would always like the clean sheet,” Rise attacker Abdu said. “That’s obviously priority, but 2-1 is the final score. That happens. So, going into the next game, we’re going to look at some of the things that Anya spoke about, and correct those details.”
Abdu keeps finding the back of the net
Since joining midway through the season, Abdu has continually found herself on the scoresheet. She finished third in the NSL Golden Boot race with 11 goals.
Her two goals tonight were enough for the Rise.
“I think it got easier throughout the first half when we started connecting passes and imposed our game,” she said.
Up next
It’s a quick turnaround for the Rise. The second leg is on Nov. 8 at TD Place Stadium. Kickoff is at 12 p.m. PST.
