Heading into the second leg of the Northern Super League semi-finals, Ottawa Rapid FC was already at odds.
After dropping the first match 2-1 in Vancouver, Ottawa was playing catch-up, needing at least a one-goal win to avoid immediate elimination.
Ottawa did just that.
Their 2-1 win at TD Place on Saturday afternoon against the Vancouver Rise levelled the aggregate score through two matches, bringing the league its first overtime and first penalty shootout.
With highlight-packed chances on both ends through 120 minutes of action, the visiting squad eventually emerged victorious 5-4 on penalties.
“We just lost in the worst way,” Ottawa head coach Katrine Pedersen said after the game.
“It’s a hard defeat.”
FIRST LEG
After finishing with identical 11-6-8 records and splitting the season series, there were no clear-cut favourites heading into the No. 2 vs. No. 3 semi-final matchup.
But Vancouver dominated Ottawa in the affair on Tuesday, which could’ve seen them net three or four more goals than their winning two.
Rise forward Latifah Abdu netted a pair of goals in seven minutes, putting Vancouver in the driver’s seat. Vancouver’s dominant possession game secured the lead for the remainder of the match.
League MVP D.B. Pridham cut Ottawa’s deficit in half with a brilliant strike late in the game, building some momentum for her squad with her league-leading 19th goal of the season.
But Ottawa couldn’t find the equalizer in the dying minutes and instead headed back to TD Place with 90 minutes — or more — to flip the script.
“We were down one from Vancouver — we knew we had to win this game,” Pedersen said.
SECOND LEG
From opening kickoff, Ottawa played with an extra gear. Down one in the aggregate score, Ottawa looked to drive the ball forward in search of the equalizer.
In the 28th minute, Pridham would find it.
After a lofted corner kick landed right at the penalty spot, Vancouver couldn’t take out the trash. A scramble ensued, with Pridham cleaning up the rebound for her 20th goal of the season to even the aggregate score at two.
Coming out of halftime, Ottawa made an early substitution, exchanging attacker Johanne Fridlund for Melanie Forbes. The switch proved effective for the Rapid, as Forbes would find the back of the net just five minutes later, pulling Ottawa ahead.
Ottawa held off the return fire, but the away squad struck late. Holly Ward’s 85th-minute header kept the Rise alive.
“We were up a few times where we were super happy and ready to play [in the finals] next week,” Pedersen said.
“But that’s the way football is.”
Although both teams pressed late, neither could find the back of the net, bringing the league its first-ever overtime.
The extra 30 minutes played out in similar fashion: nobody rising as the hero. The deadlock extended the game to penalty kicks.
In the shootout, Ottawa gained the lead early, but two consecutive saves by goalkeeper of the year, Morgan McAslan, plus Sofia Hagman’s game-winner, sent Vancouver to next weekend’s finals.
“The elephant in the room is that it sucks and we wanted to go to the final … there’s a lot of emotions,” Ottawa defender Jyllissa Harris said after the game.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs this season, but I think we can all agree we wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else.”
In addition to a finals berth at their fingertips, the inaugural season was studded with individual awards for Ottawa.
D.B. Pridham collected four awards as the league’s inaugural player of the year, forward of the year, golden boot winner and was selected for team of the season.
The loss concludes both the inaugural season for the Rapid and the legendary career of captain Desiree Scott. The Rapid will charge into the 2026-27 season without the trademarked pink headband on the roster, as Scott is set to retire at the end of the season after she came out of retirement at 38 to help grow the team.
“There’s nobody that can really replace her in any way, she has such a legacy,” said Olivia Scott.
“She left this club better than she found it.”
While the heartbreaking loss ended the road for the Rapid FC, the team is optimistic about next season
“We wanted to win, but if we can look at the season as a whole, we feel like it’s been a successful season,” Harris said.
“It’s hard to build a team based off of nothing, so going forward it’s really promising.”
Feature photo provided by Ottawa Rapid FC
