HALIFAX, NS (June 18, 2026) – In an early Thursday morning matchup in Halifax, Vancouver Rise FC were held to a 1-1 draw after a late Halifax Tides FC goal.
The match began with both sides showing good defensive organization as neither team allowed many chances inside the first 20 minutes. Anna Bout had the only shot towards goal in that period, as she found space at the edge of the box.
Anaïs Oularbi nearly got the opener for Rise FC around 25 minutes in, after being found in space at the back post, but the midfielder was tackled before she could pull the trigger.
Towards the end of the half, Latifah Abdu almost gave Rise FC the lead on two occasions. Firstly, the striker was found in the box after a Bout cut-back, but her first-time shot was blocked. Abdu kept fighting and regained the ball, cutting inside in the box and setting up a shot for Jessica De Filippo, but once again Halifax put their bodies in front of the shot to stop the effort from threatening the goal.
Right near the break, Rise FC ‘keeper Morgan McAslan made a big save to deny Julia Benati a goal, parrying away a curled effort from the left side.
That save made sure that Rise FC went into halftime on equal terms.
Rise FC came close to having an immediate goal right after the break, as De Filippo did well to outmuscle her defender on the right-hand side of the box and cut it across for Abdu near the penalty spot, but Tides FC did well to stick a leg in before she could fire towards goal.
Tides FC’s blocks kept denying Rise FC the opening goal, this time in the 51st minute as Bout was found near the back post off a cross, but her shot hit the shin of Sheyenne Allen and out.
After knocking on the door for much of the game, Rise FC finally got their go-ahead goal in the 58th minute. De Filippo was on the end of a throw-in into the box and did extremely well to turn away from three defenders and lay it off for an onrushing Oularbi, whose first time effort was drilled past the diving Rylee Foster to make it 1-0.
Despite taking the lead, Rise FC did not let up and kept piling the pressure on Tides FC.
Maithé López came close to getting a second goal for the visitors with less than 15 minutes to play, driving towards goal from the left, cutting inside and firing a vicious strike from the edge of the box, but her shot was slightly deflected as it went over the crossbar.
Rise FC had to stay focused in defence as well, with Jessika Cowart making a massive clearance near the goal line off a Tides FC corner in the 84th minute.
However, Tides FC did find a late equalizer in the 89th minute through a corner kick, with Julianne Vallerand making it 1-1.
López almost had an immediate response for Rise FC after collecting a bouncing ball in the box, but her left-footed volley went agonizingly over the crossbar.
Cowart came to the rescue once more right at the death after Sydney Kennedy broke in behind, sliding to deny the forward a golden opportunity to score.
That would prove to be the last action of the match as Rise FC came away with a valuable point in Nova Scotia.
Rise FC are back in action on Sunday, June 28 as they come back home to Swangard Stadium to host AFC Toronto for the third time this season. Kickoff for that one is at 2 p.m. PT. Fans can grab tickets at vanrisefc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Ben Hoskins
Scoring Summary
58’ - VAN - Anaïs Oularbi (Jessica De Filippo)
89’ - HFX - Julianne Vallerand (Julie Pedersen)
Statistics
Possession: HFX 46% - VAN 54%
Shots: HFX 17 - VAN 15
Shots on Goal: HFX 5 - VAN 1
Saves: HFX 0 - VAN 4
Fouls: HFX 8 - VAN 7
Offsides: HFX 1 - VAN 1
Corners: HFX 8 - VAN 5
Ottawa Rapid FC
1.Rylee Foster; 44.Julianne Vallerand, 16.Addy Weichers, 5.Annika Leslie, 3.Sheyenne Allen; 8.So-Hyun (7.Julie Pedersen 65’), 6.Karima Lemire (14.Sarah Taylor 75’); 11.Saorla Miller, 4.Julia Benati (32.Sydney Kennedy 65’), 98.Stella Downing (33.Tiffany Cameron 65’); 30.Jordyn Rhodes
Substitutes not used
12. Anika Tóth, 13.Samantha St. Croix, 24.Megumi Nakamura, 28.Éva Frémaux
Vancouver Rise FC
13.Morgan McAslan; 18.Yuka Okamoto (38.Chloe Taylor 90’+1), 3.Jessika Cowart, 6.Tori Tumeth; 14.Anna Bout, 7.Nikki Stanton (23.Maithé López 60’), 5.Quinn©️(10.Camila Reyes HT), 22.Mia Pante; 11.Jessica De Filippo (24.Josie Longhurst 89’), 99.Latifah Abdu, 26.Anais Oularbi (28.Jaime Perrault 60’)
Substitutes not used
1.Kirstin Tynan, 31.Jessica Wulf, 4.Sura Yekka