Historic NSL opener offers a glimpse of league's potential amid celebrations a long time in the making
Given the momentous nature of the occasion, it was always going to be hard to settle into a rhythm early.
Having taken the pitch for the first-ever Northern Super League match, in front of an energetic crowd at BC Place, one wouldn’t have begrudged either of the Vancouver Rise or Calgary Wild players for feeling some nerves in the first few minutes of the game.
There’s no doubting how important this day was for everyone involved - after being without a women’s professional league for so long, this marked the beginning of a very important chapter in Canadian soccer.
After decades of being without a league, forcing top Canadian women’s players to navigate the wilderness to even have a shot at making it as professionals, this marked the beginning of a reality where the next generation of Canadians didn’t have to leave Canada to make it in the sport.
When seeing the glow on the face of Christine Sinclair, someone who endured that journey to become the world’s top all-time international goalscorer, as she watched some of her former teammates take the field, it didn’t take long to see what this meant for those involved. That’s a credit to another one of her former teammates, Diana Matheson, who launched this league, having taken matters into her own hands to ensure that the future generation would have what she and past Canadian stars didn’t have growing up.
“Stepping on the pitch and seeing Diana Matheson and Christine Sinclair with the match ball, it sunk in how much work's been done to get to this moment,” one of Sinclair and Matheson’s past Canada teammates, Vancouver Rise midfielder Quinn, said afterwards. “I think I just took that time (to enjoy it), and that was a pretty surreal moment for me, so it definitely kind of hit my heart in a different way than I thought it would.”
Once the dust settled on celebrating the achievements of Matheson and her colleagues, however, and the cheers quieted down from the pre-game ceremonies, both teams had to shift their focus from enjoying the occasion to doing what they had taken the field to do - win.
At the end of the day, for all of the important work that the league is going to do off the field, creating a much-needed ecosystem for the game, the product on the pitch is going to be what drives things forward.
Having put forward an ambitious plan to become one of the top leagues in the world, driven by competitive salaries, the NSL had done a great job of attracting some impressive players for year one.
Some of them were on the field in game #1 - Quinn and their 106 international caps for Canada certainly stand out as a key signing for the Rise, as do their teammate and a former Canadian international, Shannon Woeller, while New Zealand international Meikayla Moore and Philippines international, Jaclyn Sawicki, looked to lead the way for Calgary.
That quality looked on full display from the right whistle. Naturally, the nerves came out for players on both teams, and seemed to stick around for many on the night - that the Rise and Wild each completed 80% of their passes, both averaging under four passes per possession, shows that they were far from the best versions of themselves on the ball, but they still had some excellent sequences of play.
Then, defensively, both set the tone early, with some crunching tackles coming in from both sides.
“Yeah, I liked it, it was good English football,” the Wild’s coach, Lydia Bedford, joked afterwards. “That's how it should be. We knew that the strongest part of their team was their midfield unit, so we spoke before the game about how we needed to physically match that.”
As Bedford noted, the Rise were disciplined and organized in their 4-3-3, pressing high up the field and causing problems for the Wild’s build-up play. As a result, they recovered the ball 16 times in the final third, doing a great job of dominating proceedings off the ball with their defensive play.
“We want to be dominant on the ball, but we also want to set that high pressure, doing so as high and often as we can, especially in the beginning of the game,” Rise FC coach, Anja Heiner-Møller, said afterwards. “To get that dominance and control with that high pressure is good for us, and is something that worked well in our preseason games leading up to this one.”
They turned that early pressure into a moment of magic, too - after a great run from the Rise’s Holly Ward, she was chopped down by Moore, drawing a penalty that Quinn coolly dispatched for the league’s first-ever goal, a fitting honour for one of the marquee day-one NSL stars.
QUINN SCORES THE FIRST GOAL IN #NSL HISTORY 🚨@NorthernSuperLg pic.twitter.com/XwGep0Uz60
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 17, 2025
“It's a pretty cool moment,” Quinn said of their goal. “Not one I thought I’d get, I score goals few and far between, but it was exciting for our team to get on the scoreboard, that was a bit of a relief for us, and it was just such a team effort getting to that point, so it was exciting to celebrate as a team.”
For a minute, that seemed to potentially ignite the game for the Rise, who looked likely to grab a second as they started to find their feet, but having reached half time with the game still at 1-0, the Wild clicked into gear. A slight formation change and a double substitution gave them more control of the ball, and they started to break that Rise press that suffocated them early.
Because of that, they started to push late, and almost turned the game around, generating two glorious opportunities in the last 15 minutes of the game, almost playing spoiler to the Rise.
In the end, the Rise stood strong and got the result they felt they deserved, but credit has to go to the Wild, who made a good game of a contest that could’ve easily been lopsided for the hosts.
FIRST WIN ✅
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) April 17, 2025
Propelled by a first goal by #CanWNT star Quinn, @VancouverRiseFC earn the first WIN in @NorthernSuperLg history with a 1-0 result over Calgary Wild FC 🇨🇦
Announced attendance at BC Place: 14,018 ✨ pic.twitter.com/NUehpmcRuS
This bodes well for the NSL, as this is going to be hugely important for the league’s development. At the end of the day, for all of the momentous occasions that this league is going to have throughout this first year, the standard of play is going to be what drives this league forward, and this first game delivered in terms of how competitive and intense it was.
Plus, given that it’s only week one, the standard is only going to improve rapidly from here on in, especially as teams build chemistry.
“Hopefully that's the intensity we see (going forward),” Bedford said. “I think tonight was a great example of how good this league is going to be, and if that's the style of games for fans to watch, it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun.”
Not only that, but we’ll quickly figure out who the surprise stars of this league are, too, as there will be a chance for new faces to step up and make a name for themselves.
We saw that in game one, as Rise forward, Holly Ward, showed what that can look like. A local player who signed for her hometown team out of the Texas Longhorns in the NCAA, Ward was dominant in this game, terrorizing Calgary’s defenders in a performance that saw her finish with eight successful dribbles, three shots (including one off the post), and of course the penalty that she won for her team’s lone goal.
A 21-year-old, she’s the exact sort of player that will stand to benefit from the creation of this league, which aims to elevate young Canadian talents like her, putting them on a bigger stage while staying close to home.
Having recently earned a call-up to Canada’s Women’s National Team, making her senior debut in a friendly vs. Argentina earlier this month, just being in the NSL had already brought her attention before a ball was kicked in this league, and that spotlight will only grow if she continues to put in performances like this one.
Therefore, while a story like that might get lost in the shuffle of a busy opening day, it’ll be exciting to see players like Ward get their shine throughout the season.
“What was most important for us was that all the players had the courage to make an impact,” Heiner-Møller said of Ward. “And I think that courage showed on our flanks and on the wings.”
Ultimately, however, that’s Matheson’s big goal in all of this - to develop Canadian talent, and that’s what will drive the success of this league.
Because of that, it’s fitting to see Ward shine on day one, as players like her will look to become the backbone of the league over time.
Given the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with established players like Quinn, the platform is now there, and now the NSL will hope this is just the beginning in terms of what’s to come in that regard.
Matheson summed it up well when speaking to the Canadian Press this week: the most exciting players in this league might be the ones we don’t know as much about, such as Ward, and night one showed why that’s the case.
“I’m (excited for) the next Christine Sinclair, Jessie Fleming or Cloé Lacasse,” Matheson told CP. “We haven’t even met them yet, and now they’re going to get to develop in this league and become a National Team star.”
