The Vancouver Rise dominated possession but could not capitalize on their chances as they fell at Swangard Stadium in a 3-0 loss to Ottawa Rapid.
Goals from Stella Downing, Delaney Baie Pridham and Jazmine Wilkinson all came on clinical plays, exploiting the Rise’s back line with quick transitions.
Rise head coach Anja Heiner-Møller said they were “disappointed” and that “the result today didn’t show the game.”
“I think it was a game where we dominated most of the game,” Heiner-Møller said. “We do produce chances. We need to be sharper in our end, like scoring on our chances, but also be cleaner.”
The Rise dominated possession in the early game, probing forward while limiting Ottawa’s chances of any sort of attacking run. Latifah Abdu tested Melissa Dagenais in the fifth minute with a hard shot from the corner of the 18-yard box, but the goalkeeper was able to palm it over the bar.
Vancouver kept pressing, hemming the Rapids deep, but opportunities seemed only to come from distance attempts. Dagenais had difficulty holding the ball on a few occasions, but the Rise were unable to pounce on the spilled chances.
And despite their apparent control of the first half, it was the Rise who entered the tunnel down by a goal.
Downing, returning to Swangard Stadium where she had played when she was with TSS Rovers, scored in the 38th minute. Dagenais started the sequence with a long kick from her 6-yard box, which was flicked on by Pridham.
Downing carried on her run past Pridham, into the path of the ball. All alone on Morgan McAslan, Downing hit the ball low into the far corner for the first-half lead.
Ottawa doubled its lead in the 78th minute through Pridham’s league-leading 18th goal. The golden boot race leader sidestepped a challenge by Jessika Cowart and leaped over the sliding tackle of Nicole Stanton as she barrelled down on McAslan, who had little she could do to stop it.
A third was added five minutes later by Wilkinson. The attacker’s first goal of the season was an excellent header in the 18-yard box taken off a well-placed cross from Nicola Golen.
“I believe in the team,” the head coach said. “We had momentum from the start. We had a good start to this game. Again, first half, I think we need to be cleaner in that half, and that would break them for sure.”
“It’s about showing up when we need to,” she added.
Ottawa’s quick transitions hurt Rise
Ottawa’s first two goals came off quick transitions in play. The first was a fast break initiated by Dagenais in goal, and the second was a recovery in the midfield, catching the Rise high up the park.
“We need to look at our positions when we are building up and going in to break through to make sure we’re not risking too much if we lose the ball while we’re going forward,” Heiner-Møller said.
Up next
The Rise are back in action next Saturday, Sept. 27, when they travel to Halifax to take on the Tides. Kickoff for that match is at 11 a.m.
