Originally seen on AFTN

Latifah Abdu’s brace gave Vancouver Rise a narrow aggregate lead over Ottawa Rapid in the first leg of their playoff semifinal at Swangard Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Rise boasted the league’s best home record coming into the game and their energetic start to proceedings showed their intent to continue that fine form. Up against an Ottawa defence that included Northern Super League defender of the year Jyllissa Harris, it was Abdu who found the breakthrough 15 minutes in thanks to careless defending from the visitors.

Ottawa’s Ellen Gibson received a risky ball from her goalkeeper Melissa Dagenais on the edge of her box before turning into pressure and being dispossessed by Samantha Chang. The alert Abdu was there to tidy up and poke past Dagenais, giving the Rise a 1-0 lead.

Securing a positive result at Swangard would ensure a potentially critical advantage for their trip to Ottawa for Saturday’s second leg, though there was little to separate these teams on the night and you would expect the same again in the second leg. They finished level on points during the regular season and shared a head-to-head record that only slightly favoured the Rise. With little between them, home advantage was crucial.

The Rise were eager to impress in front of a crowd that included Vancouver Whitecaps star Thomas Müller. Luckily they had Abdu, inspired, and proving again what a smart acquisition she was, as just seven minutes after her first, she netted again. De Filippo was the provider this time, delivering a crisp threaded pass into the feet of the former Montreal Roses attacker, who turned her defender before slotting past Dagenais for 2-0.

The half-time interval provided Ottawa coach Katrine Pedersen with a chance to reset, and so Stella Downing, who had seen little of the ball, was replaced by Nicola Golen as the away team searched for attacking impetus.

Both teams pushed for the third goal of the game. Vancouver showed no signs of sitting back, instead opting for an offensive push to give them as much advantage as possible going into a tough second leg. Their attacking optimism was soon punished, though, with the superb DB Pridham able to turn half a chance into a crucial goal with the help of halftime substitute Golen.

Pridham received Golen’s ball on the right and, with plenty of work still to do, cut inside, skipped past Rebecca Lake, and unleashed a left-footed effort past Morgan McAslan from the edge of the box. Another goal for a player who swept the recent NSL awards with Forward of the Year, Player of the Year, and the Golden Boot.

Giving up a two-goal home lead would be disappointing for the Rise, especially in front of a supportive Swangard crowd. As the game entered its final stages, they had Jasmyne Spencer to thank for sending fans home on a high. With Vancouver bodies forward at a corner, Ottawa broke through Golen with only Spencer to beat. Spencer was patient, not committing until certain of shielding the ball from Golen, which she did with total control. A marvellous piece of defending that was met by rapturous applause, only made louder by the departure of goal-scoring hero Abdu minutes later. The Rise held on for the win, but with plenty of work still to do in the capital.

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Rise 2-1 Ottawa Rapid

ATT: Not announced

VANCOUVER: 13.Morgan McAslan; 3.Jasmyne Spencer, 21.Jessika Cowart (7.Nicole Stanton 76’), 23.Rebecca Lake, 18.Yuka Okamoto; 5.Quinn, 8.Samantha Chang, 10.Lisa Pechersky (14.Anna Bout 65’); 11.Jessica De Filippo (9.Mariah Lee 65’), 99.Latifah Abdu (24.Josie Longhurst 90’+3), 19.Holly Ward [Substitutes Not Used: 1.Kirstin Tynan, 6.Sofia Hagman, 12.Jaylyn Wright, 25.Nedya Sawan, 28.Jaime Perrault]

OTTAWA: 30.Melissa Dagenais; 3.Kayla Adamek, 18.Olivia Scott, 33.Jyllissa Harris, 19.Choo Hyo-Joo; 11.Desiree Scott (6.Julia Benati 80’), 14.Lee Min-A (10.Florence Belzile 70’), 8.Ellen Gibson; 98.Stella Downing (15.Nicola Golen HT), 22.Delanie-Baie Pridham, 7.Johanne Fridlund (5.Emily Amano 80’) [Substitutes not used: 12.Kelly Chiavaro, 2.Susanna Haaland, 9.Jazmine Wilkinson, 13.Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene, 21.Melanie Forbes}

SCORING SUMMARY:
15’ – VAN – Latifah Abdu
22’ – VAN – Latifah Abdu (Jessica De Filippo)
68’ – OTT – D.B. Pridham (Nicola Golen)

STATS:
Possession: VAN 49% – OTT 51%
Shots: VAN 18 – OTT 7
Shots on Goal: VAN 5 – OTT 2
Offsides: VAN 1 – OTT 1
Corners: VAN 4 – OTT 4
Yellow Cards: VAN 1 – OTT 2
Red Cards: VAN 0 – OTT 0

BOOKINGS:
78’ – OTT – Johanne Fridlund
90’+4 – VAN – Morgan McAslan
90’+5 – VAN – Kayla Adamek

REACTION:

Vancouver Rise

Anja Heiner-Møller

“First half we were a strong team. This is the playoffs, we don’t know what the nerves will do. We are at home so I feel like more pressure is on us and I’m really happy about how the team handled that. The team has high expectations. We wanted to win, but we wanted to win our way, and I don’t think we did that in the second half.”

Ottawa Rapid

Katrine Pedersen

“We were not happy with not really showing up as ourselves in the first half against a very good Vancouver team who were all over us in the first half. We struggled and it felt like we had the handbrake pulled. We managed to get out with another mindset and another mentality in the second half. We got a goal and we kept pushing. For that we are happy, and we are proud that that is the way we showed up and that we were able to change our mindset.”