PSL Canada Women’s Review: Week 11

While the FIFA World Cup has taken over the world’s attention for the next month plus, the Premier Soccer Leagues Canada continues to provide its fair share of drama and chaos as we hit the second half of the season.

We had the regular season conclude in Quebec’s top flight, while other continued to compete for a title, their first win, promotion, or to avoid the drop. Northern Tribune has you covered with all that took place across the pro-am level of the country. This is the women’s review, but if you would like the men’s recap, that can be found here.

BC Premier League: Altitude Goes Top

The BC Premier League is down to its final few weeks of the season, but there is still much to be decided, particularly at the top. Three games occurred this week, with Altitude leading the way with a huge 8-0 defeat of Burnaby FC. Ella Santarsieri bagged a hattrick for her team in a much-needed win.

The other two games saw Langley United and TSS Rovers draw 1-1, while Unity FC defeated Kamloops United 3-1.

Altitude is back ahead of Vancouver Rise, who had the week off. However, the Rise still has a game in hand, providing them the opportunity to retake the lead.

Next week will have five more matches, as Unity hosts Altitude, and Burnaby FC meets the Rise Academy on Tuesday. Nanaimo takes on TSS Rovers on Sunday, before the Rise Academy will be back at it once again to face Unity. Altitude will also play a second match, as they meet Langley.

Alberta Premier League: Wild Retakes Lead

The Alberta Premier League had four matches in another interesting week of play. The Calgary Rangers kicked things off with a Tuesday night 3-1 success away to Calgary Villains. Grace Moore completed the comeback with a brace to lift her side to victory.

On Friday, the Calgary Wild U-23 added more misery on the Villains with a 4-1 win. Four different players got in on the goals for the academy team. BTB Academy defeated Callies United 2-0 in their match, while Calgary Rangers and St. Albert Impact played to a scoreless draw.

The Wild holds onto top spot for now as the Calgary Blizzard did not take the field last week. Calgary Foothills, despite their defeat, cannot be ruled out of this title race either.

The Blizzard will have the chance to retake the lead at home to Callies United on Tuesday next week. The former will then face the Rangers on Friday, while the latter meets St. Albert at home. BTB has the other Friday fixture when they take on the Villains.

Prairies Premier League: Thunder Bay Impresses

The Prairies Premier League had five games last week as the season is well and truly in full throttle. Thunder Bay Chill got things underway with a 3-1 defeat of Lucania FC. A second half comeback from the Northern Ontario side saw them score thrice to come out on top.

There was no time to Chill for Thunder Bay, who then beat Sask Excel Academy 4-2 a couple days later. Also playing on Friday, FC Manitoba got past QC United 1-0. Sunday’s pair of matches saw Bonivital draw 0-0 with QC United, and Lucania top Sask Excel 5-1.

With their two wins this week, the Chill has gone to the top of the table. It is still incredibly tight among the six teams, with only five points separating them. Only QC United has yet to claim multiple wins at this point.

There is one game next week, where Lucania will have the chance to be outright leaders when they take on Bonivital.

Ontario Premier League: League Leaders Benefit From Double Gameweek

While the OPL Cup is on a little break, the rest of the Ontario Premier League teams kept up what has been an exciting year of footy.

Here is a look back at everything that took place across the OPL over the last week.

Ontario Premier League 1: Rovers Double Up With Two More Wins

It was a double matchweek in the OPL1, as all teams, except for Scrosoppi and NDC Ontario, had two games each.

The midweek play started with NDC Ontario topping Vaughan Azzurri 3-1. Following that, FC London defeated Waterloo United 3-1, Scrosoppi got past Woodbridge Strikers 1-0, Simcoe County Rovers cruised to a 4-0 defeat of Guelph United, and North Toronto Nitros prevailed 2-0 at North Mississauga.

The Rovers managed to get a second win in the week with a 4-2 Saturday victory over Vaughan Azzurri. After being pegged back, the defending champions pulled away with three more goals to get the win.

Sunday’s three games saw Woodbridge edge North Missisauga 2-1, Waterloo United beat North Toronto 1-0, and Guelph United get past FC London 2-0. The game between Scrosoppi and NDC was postponed.

Simcoe opens up a six-point lead over NDC at the top, with the latter playing one less match. At the bottom, North Miss awaits their first points of the campaign, while North Toronto is in ninth.

North Mississauga will get two chances to get on the board next week as they battle Scrosoppi on Wednesday night. They will then meet Vaughan on Saturday, as Scrosoppi faces London that same day. Waterloo United faces NDC, Guelph battles North Toronto, and Woodbridge welcomes Simcoe.

Ontario Premier League 2: Pickering Continuing to Pull Away

It was also a double gameweek in the OPL2, with nine games taking place. Hamilton United Elite beat Tecumseh 2-0 as part of the midweek matches. Cambridge United got a hattrick from Annick Lariviere in their 6-2 defeat of Unionville Milliken, while Pickering FC edged Oakville SC 1-0. Whitby triumphed 3-0 against Burlington SC, and Rush Canada earned a 5-0 win at International FC.

On the weekend, Whitby grabbed another win by getting past Unionville 2-1. Tecumseh and Cambridge ended goalless, while Pickering earned a 3-0 success against International. Hamilton United won Sunday’s only game with a 2-0 victory over Rush. Burlington and Oakville’s clash was postponed due to the weather.

Pickering’s lead at the top is now up to nine points as Whitby is now the team in second spot. Hamilton, Cambridge, Oakville and Tecumseh follow closely behind though. Burlington remains at the bottom, though Unionville and International can feel the pressure.

Hamilton will take on International in a midweek game as the former has the chance to go second in the standings. Pickering faces Burlington on Friday, while Whitby has Cambridge. Tecumseh meets International, Unionville has Hamilton, and Rush takes on Oakville on the weekend.

Ontario Premier League 3: Railway, Roma Keep On Winning

There were 11 matches across the OPL3 in a week where many of the senior teams struggled.

In the Northeast Conference, Kingston Sentinels fell 1-0 to North Toronto B at home. Master’s FA had it worse, losing 5-1 at home to Pickering B. Unionville B won 3-2 against International B, while Pickering B could not make it two wins in a week, losing 3-0 to Simcoe B.

In the Central Conference, the Subdury Cyclones lost 3-1 at home to Woodbridge B. Alexaudria Chasles got the hattrick for the guests, who came from a goal down to prevail. The other matches saw North Mississauga B beat Scrosoppi B 4-2, and Rush Canada B and Burlington B drew 2-2.

As for the Southwest Conference, both St. Catherines Roma Wolves and Railway City were victorious. The former cruised to a 5-0 win at Tecumseh B, while the latter beat Waterloo B 4-0. Guelph B got past Cambridge B 3-1, while London B defeated Hamilton B 4-0.

Pickering B, Woodbridge B, and the Roma Wolves continue to lead the conferences, as Simcoe B now holds the wildcard spot.

The Sentinels will look to bounce back as they have Whitby B and International B next week. Master’s welcomes Unionville B in their game. Richmond Hill returns to face Vaughan B, who will then face Sudbury later on. Railway is away to Cambridge B in their match, while St. Catherines will host London B.

LS PRO Quebec: Home Sides Dominate In Cup

The Coupe du Quebec continued on with group stage play as three games took place in midweek. There was a shock result, with Mistral de Sherbrooke getting past AS Brossard 5-2. Audrey-Anne Desbiens bagged a hattrick to lead her team to victory.

The other two results went as expected. AS Chaudiere-Ouest got past Phenix des Rivieres 5-0, while Celtix du Haut-Richelieu defeated Cosmos de Granby 8-0. Six different players found the back of the net for CHR in the win.

It will be a much busier week in the cup next week, with a total of seven games to come. There will be an all-Ligue clash between Lakeshore SC and Ottawa South United. Royal Beauport, AS Chaudiere-Ouest and AS Blainville are all in action.

Ligue 1 Quebec: Playoff Spots All But Confirmed

The last full round of Ligue 1 Quebec regular season play took place last week. Things started on Tuesday, where CS Mont Royal Outremont drew 0-0 with Lakeshore SC. That led to the weekend’s action, where Royal Beauport also was involved in a goalless stalemate against Celtix.

CSMRO claimed all three points in their last game, beating AS Laval 2-0. AS Blainville won by the same score, getting past AS Chaudiere-Ouest. CS St-Laurent earned a vital 1-0 success at Lakeshore, while Academie CF Montreal edged Ottawa South United 2-1. As for FC Laval, they drew 1-1 at home to CS Longueuil.

CSMRO, Blainville, Beauport, Academie CF, and Chaudiere Ouest qualified for the championship playoffs, and will meet each other once more to determine the league’s winner. Ottawa, FC Laval, Lakeshore, St-Laurent, and AS Laval are guaranteed to partake in the relegation playoffs.

Longueuil and Celtix are yet to confirm their place in the playoffs. That will depend on next Thursday’s tie, as the former meets Blainville at home. Simply put, a point from Longueuil will be enough to give them a top six finish. Should Blainville win, regardless of margin of victory, then Celtix will complete the title playoff group.

Ligue 2 Quebec: LaSalle Stunned On the Road

Four games took place across Ligue 2 last week, all coming on Sunday. CS St-Hubert got the better of CS Trois-Rivieres 2-0, before AS Brossard achieved the same scoreline in a shock win against CS LaSalle.

Neither CS Levis-Est nor Revolution FC were able to find the back of the net in their goalless clash. As for CS Trident, they defeated CS Boucherville 1-0 at home thanks to Roxanne Simard’s 89th minute winner.

St-Hubert has now gone ahead in the division, jumping over LaSalle. Brossard’s win clears them of the bottom two, leaving CS Fury de Rimouski and Trois-Rivieres on four points each.

A full round will take place next Sunday as all 10 sides take the pitch. Fury will play host to LaSalle, Revolution takes on Trident, Trois-Rivieres has a relegation six-pointer versus AS Gatineau, Brossard meets Levis-Est, and Boucherville will take on St-Hubert.

Ligue 3 Quebec: Victoriaville Puts In Six

Only three matches occurred in Ligue 3 Quebec, but there were still 14 goals, adding to the intrigue.

Optimum de Victoriaville kept up their impressive campaign with a 6-1 road win against Phenix des Rivieres. Kelly-Ann Labrie scored a hattrick as part of the convincing win.

In the other two games, Mistral de Sherbrooke completed a very strong week with a 3-0 defeat of CS Du Bas-Richelieu, while Cosmos de Granby drew 2-2 with Union Lanaudiere Sud. Both teams led at Parc Jean-Yves-Phaneuf, but neither could hold onto their advantage.

West Ottawa and Victoriaville continue to lead the way in what is an enthralling title race between the duo. Sherbrooke, CSBR, and Roussillon hold the playoff spots, while Phenix stays in last spot.

Next week Sunday will have another full round of play. CF L’International de Quebec will take on Granby, Phenix will meet CS Roussillon, CSBR has Sherbrooke, and Union Lanaudiere Sud meets West Ottawa. Victoriaville will have the week off.

Header Image Photo Credit: Kevin Raposo