PSL Canada Women’s Review: Week 13

Women’s football at the pro-am level continues to flourish as the Premier Soccer Leagues Canada season flies by. Another week of football is complete, with much still to be decided.

As ever, Northern Tribune keeps you up to date with everything that transpires across the country. This is our weekly report on the women’s leagues in PSL Canada, and you can also find our men’s recap here.

BC Premier League: Kamloops Victorious, But Title Already Decided

There were three matches in the BC Premier League as the season comes to a close. Champions Vancouver Rise Academy got things going with a 2-0 away win over TSS Rovers. Lacey Kindel scored both goals for the visitors en route to three more points.

The away wins continued on Saturday, as Kamloops United won just their second game of the season, edging Burnaby FC 1-0. An own goal just after the hour mark made the difference. As for Langley United, they got the biggest win of the week with a 5-0 defeat of Nanaimo United away.

With the title race already decided, it is just a matter of who else will finish where. TSS Rovers can still end up in the top half, while Nanaimo has two chances to avoid a winless campaign.

TSS Rovers will face Unity on Tuesday for the last place in the top four. The next day will see Altitude welcome Nanaimo, while Kamloops has the Rise Academy on Friday. The season will come to a close on Sunday, as Kamloops welcomes Nanaimo, and Langley faces Burnaby.

Alberta Premier League: Wild Pulls Ahead

The Alberta Premier League had four matches over the course of last week as the second half of the season is underway. At the Macron Performance Centre, the Calgary Wild U23 topped Calgary Foothills 4-1. Four different players got on the scoreboard for the Northern Super League reserve side.

There was no success for the Wild three days later in a narrow 1-0 defeat of St. Albert Impact. The Foothills, meanwhile, bounced back emphatically with a 9-0 thumping on Callies United. Emma Nicholson scored four times for the hosts in the big win. The other match ended 3-1 for BTB Academy at Calgary Rangers.

As the Calgary Blizzard did not see the pitch last week, the Wild U23 goes back to the top. BTB and the Foothills still have hope, but will have to be just about perfect from here on.

The Blizzard will kick things off next week at the Calgary Villains. That will be on Tuesday, with both sides returning on Friday. The Villains will host St. Albert, with the Blizzard meeting BTB away. As for the Foothills, they face the Calgary Rangers in their match.

Prairies Premier League: Bonivital Goes Top

Just two matches took place in the Prairies Premier League over the weekend, both on Saturday. The first game saw Thunder Bay Chill fail to hold onto the lead twice in a 2-2 draw against QC United. Olivia Gables was the one to level the score twice for the Saskatchewan team.

In the other match, Bonivital got past FC Manitoba 2-0 on the road. Jessica Tsai broke the tie in the final 20 minutes, before Lily Polet added a second near the end to give the Flames the win.

The result means Bonivital goes in front heading into the final couple of weeks of the season. They go ahead of the Thunder Bay Chill, who had a free week.

Next week has three games, kicking off with Tuesday’s clash between FC Manitoba and Lucania FC. Sask Excel Academy will take on the Chill on Sunday, before FC Manitoba returns to the pitch on Sunday to meet Bonivital.

Ontario Premier League: Cup Final Confirmed

The OPL Cup semifinals occurred last week Wednesday, with both home teams coming out on top. Hamilton United Elite created another upset by getting the better of Vaughan Azzurri 1-0. Ava Boyd’s penalty right on the hour mark decided the match, giving the hosts the win.

In the other semi, Grace Hannaford netted twice for Guelph United in a 5-1 triumph over Woodbridge Strikers. Guelph managed to score all five goals in the opening 45 as they coasted to the victory.

Hamilton United and Guelph United will contest the OPL Cup final on 22 July at the Zanchin Automotive Soccer Centre in Vaughan. It is a first appearance in the final for both squads.

Ontario Premier League 1: Title Hopefuls Win Comfortably

OPL1 action continued over the last week with six matches to have taken place. Waterloo United started things off with a 4-2 defeat of FC London. Two days later, NDC Ontario squeezed past Waterloo United 2-1.

Simcoe County Rovers had four different players find the back of the net in their comfortable 4-0 success at home to FC London. It was 5-0 for Guelph United at North Mississauga, while Waterloo and Scrosoppi played to a 1-1 stalemate. Vaughan Azzurri topped Woodbridge Strikers 3-1 in Sunday’s only contest.

Simcoe continues to lead by four points over NDC, though the latter has played a game less. At the bottom, North Mississauga remains without a point as relegation seems more and more inevitable for the Panthers.

Tuesday night has two games as North Toronto takes on FC London and Scrosoppi faces NDC, who then heads to Vaughan three nights later. Waterloo takes on Simcoe, while Scrosoppi meets Guelph. North Mississauga plays host to FC London on Saturday, and North Toronto meets Woodbridge.

Ontario Premier League 2: International Steers Clear of Threat

There were six matches in the OPL2 last week, with a fascinating set of results. Wednesday started things with a 3-0 Tecumseh success at Cambridge United. A busy Saturday saw Whitby FC top Burlington SC 2-0, while Tecumseh drew 1-1 with Hamilton United Elite.

Cambridge United produced the comeback of the week, battling back from 3-0 down to defeat Unionville Milliken 4-3. As for International FC, they took the lead three times in their 3-2 win at Rush Canada. Sunday’s only game ended goalless between leaders Pickering FC and Oakville SC.

Despite the hiccup, Pickering remains in front as no one immediately below them could capitalize on their draw. Unionville and Burlington are the bottom two, as just a point separates the pair.

Rush takes to the field on Tuesday night to host Hamilton in the midweek contest. They both play again on Friday, with the former facing Whitby while the latter hosts Oakville. Tecumseh takes on Unionville in one of two Saturday games, with Cambridge meeting Pickering in the other clash. On Sunday, Burlington faces International.

Ontario Premier League 3: Roma Increases Lead

Five of the six senior teams in the OPL3 were involved last week as a total of 14 games took place. The pressure is starting to heat up with the regular season inching closer to the three-quarter mark.

In the Northeast Conference, Master’s FA suffered a pair of 5-1 defeats to Whitby B and Simcoe B. Bad starts ended up costing the side in both matches, as they conceded seven of the 10 goals in the opening halves.

Elsewhere, Unionville B and Pickering B played to a 3-3 draw, Whitby B enjoyed a 5-0 victory at International B, and Pickering B picked up a 2-0 success against North Toronto B.

Master’s was not the only team to have a difficult week, as in the Central Conference, Richmond Hill was on the wrong side of a 6-2 reverse at Burlington B. Although they took the lead twice, it all went downhill in the last 30 minutes as they conceded five times without reply.

The Sudbury Cyclones, however, fared better, grabbing a point in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Oakville B. Carly Svoboda’s seven-minute brace helped them erase a 3-0 deficit on the road. Rush Canada B topped Scrosoppi B 3-0 in their match, while North Mississauga B also defeated Scrosoppi B with a 3-1 score.

It was another very good week for St. Catherines Roma Wolves in the Southwest Conference. They earned two wins against Hamilton B in a matter of days, beating them 4-2 on the road and 3-2 at home. Demi Maroudas netted a hattrick in the away game, with three different players getting in on the goals at home.

Railway City edged Guelph B 2-1 in their clash, scoring twice in four minutes to complete a comeback win. Other Southwest Conference games saw Tecumseh B top Cambridge B 3-2, as London B won by the same score over Waterloo B.

Simcoe B, Woodbridge B, and St. Catherines are the conference leaders, with the first two sides well on their way to booking a playoff spot. Railway is still in contention for the wildcard berth, though Pickering B just edges them right now on goal difference, having played a game more.

Kingston Sentinels will be back in action on Friday at home to Unionville B, with Master’s facing North Toronto B a few days later. Richmond Hill is at home against Woodbridge B as Sudbury heads to Oakville to battle Rush Canada B.

The game of the week will be at Club Roma, where the Roma Wolves will look to lock down the Southwest Conference title against Railway City. St. Catherines will also take on Guelph B several days later.

LS PRO Quebec: Away Sides Dominate in Cup

A total of five Coupe du Quebec games transpired last week, with four of those games ending in victories for the away clubs.

The sole exception came on Tuesday, where CS Boucherville stunned CS Longueuil 1-0 thanks to Azalia Dionne’s winner just before halftime. On Wednesday, CS Trident edged CS Fury de Rimouski 2-1, while FC Laval won their derby game 4-0 at AS Laval. Jasmine Guerber scored twice in the win.

Optimum de Victoriaville suffered a surprising 3-1 reverse at home against fellow Ligue 3 team CS Du Bas-Richelieu, where two second half goals from the visitors got them over the line. As for Union Lanaudiere Sud, they prevailed 7-0 away to rivals CS Lanaudiere-Nord, with five players getting the goals for them.

There are just two more weeks left of group stage play in the Coupe. Next week will have five matches, as Phenix des Rivieres takes on Fury de Rimouski, CS LaSalle welcomes CS Mont Royal Outremont, CS Roussillon has CS St-Hubert, and Arsenal de Chambly hosts Revolution FC. On Thursday, CS St-Laurent and AS Blainville will square off.

Ligue 1 Quebec: CSMRO, Blainville Start Off With Wins

The first week of the playoffs in Ligue 1 Quebec has just transpired, with both the title and relegation spots taking a different turn.

In the championship playoffs, AS Blainville kicked things off with a 2-1 defeat of Celtix du Haut-Richelieu. Two late first half goals got Blainville over the line. Academie CF Montreal also won by that same score at Royal Beauport, before CS Mont Royal Outremont defeated AS Chaudiere-Ouest 4-0 in a dominant display.

As for the relegation playoffs, Ottawa South United piled the misery on CS St-Laurent with a 6-0 success. Sabrina Mangiaracina got half of the goals for Ottawa in the result. Lakeshore SC got past AS Laval 2-0 away, while FC Laval defeated CS Longueuil 1-0.

The title will certainly be decided between CSMRO and Blainville, with the former currently holding top spot on goal difference. At the bottom, AS Laval and St-Laurent are in serious trouble of being the ones to go down.

Celtix and CSMRO face off on Friday to start round two of the playoffs. Chaudiere-Ouest has Beauport, before Academie CFM meets Blainville. In the relegation fight, St-Laurent hosts FC Laval, AS Laval takes on Longueuil, and Lakeshore welcomes Ottawa.

Ligue 2 Quebec: Emphatic LaSalle Impresses

There ended up being only four games in Ligue 2 Quebec last week due to the meeting between CS St-Hubert and AS Gatineau being postponed.

On Saturday, CS Trois-Rivieres earned a huge 2-1 win at CS Fury de Rimouski to give themselves a shot at survival. Sunday’s play saw AS Brossard stun CS Trident 1-0 thanks to Mahelie Barbeau’s winner.

CS Levis-Est secured a 5-1 success over CS Boucherville to keep their slim hopes of automatic promotion alive. As for CS LaSalle, they topped Revolution FC 4-1, with Allie Martin’s hattrick leading the way.

The win opens up a four-point gap for LaSalle over the rest of the field, though Trident and Levis-Est have both played a game less. Trois-Rivieres is still in the relegation zone, but now there is hope for them. Fury de Rimouski is starting to run out of time to keep their Ligue 2 status.

Perhaps Fury’s last chances will come next weekend with a doubleheader against AS Gatineau in Trois-Rivieres. Speaking of Trois-Rivieres, they are at home to AS Brossard, while Boucherville meets LaSalle, Revolution battles St-Hubert, and Trident hosts Levis-Est.

Ligue 3 Quebec: West Ottawa Scores For Fun

Four games in Ligue 3 Quebec occurred on Sunday as the second half of the campaign is in full force. Optimum de Victoriaville started things off with a narrow 2-1 win against CS Roussillon. Goals in either half proved to be enough as Victoriaville notched their eighth league success of the season.

CS Du Bas-Richelieu and CF L’International de Quebec played to a 0-0 draw, while Mistral de Sherbrooke got past Union Lanaudiere Sud 3-2. Florence Vaillancourt scored the winner in the 92nd minute. As for West Ottawa SC, they were 11-0 victors over Phenix des Rivieres, scoring eight of their goals after the break.

West Ottawa remains ahead by just three points over Victoriaville with those two being the only ones competing for the automatic promotion place. The bottom four continue to be separated by just three points, with all of them still in danger of going down.

Cosmos de Granby will be back in action next Sunday at home to Victoraville. Roussillon takes on Mistral de Sherbrooke, while Phenix meets West Ottawa once again. Union Lanaudiere Sud hosts CS Du Bas-Richelieu in their game, as CF L’International de Quebec has the week off.