Vancouver Rise

Thorny Start: Montréal Roses steal the show in Vancouver Rise’s Swangard debut

Following their dream start to their NSL campaign just over a week ago at BC Place, the Vancouver Rise were unable to build on that in their second match, as they fell to the Montréal Roses at Swangard Stadium on Sunday. 

In a matchup pitting the first two victors in the league’s history, it’d be the Roses who’d be able to build on their opening weekend success, as they rode a strong start to a statement victory, one that pushes them atop the NSL table after two weeks. 

As for Vancouver, it leaves them with plenty to ponder heading into week three, where they’ll host the Halifax Tides at Swangard Stadium in the last of three home games, before heading out on the road for the first time. 

Given that it’s still early in the season, they won’t be too worried about the performances from the first two games, which have been all about building chemistry and working on tactics, but they’ll certainly have plenty to ponder, especially after this match. 

In particular, their attack is something they’ll want to get up and firing – while they’ve done well to score in each of their games, they’re yet to get firing in open play, something that they’ll focus on going forward. 

Returning to the game, however, it didn’t take long for Montréal to open the scoring, as much like they did a week ago in Toronto, they came flying out of the gates. After a nice dribble from Mégane Sauvé, she found Hailey Whitaker at the back post, and the Roses full back did well to turn the cross towards the goal, finding the back of the net with a first-time finish in the 4th minute. 

Then, continuing their strong start, Montréal doubled their lead in the 15th minute, as Allie Hess fired a shot from the edge of the box after the ball fell to her, finding the bottom corner with her strike. 

Montréal then capped off a perfect first half in the 42nd minute, putting them comfortably in the driving seat for the rest of the game. After a throw-in from Tanya Boychuk, Latifah Abdu managed to pick up the ball and slalom into the box, where she fired an absolute cannon of a strike into the top corner to make it 3-0. 

Looking to salvage a point out of this game, the Rise came out in the second half with new energy. Because of that, they almost found an opening goal right after half time, as Lisa Pechersky forced a great save out of Montréal’s Gabrielle Lambert, a sign of their intent. 

That intent soon led to a goal, too – after a tangle of bodies in the box following a corner, Quinn was able to win a penalty, one they stepped up and converted for their second goal in as many games from the spot to start the year. 

From there, however, the game settled down, as Montréal were determined to lock down the game and preserve their result. They kept pushing – Abdu hit the post with another dangerous strike in the 80th minute – but their focus started to shift towards their defensive play. 

Despite dealing with that resistance from the Roses, the Rise kept pushing late, and almost scored a banger in second-half stoppage time, as Sofia Hagman fired a strike from distance, but Lambert once again did a great job of getting in front of the shot and making the save. 

Because of that, the game would finish 3-1, a result that was certainly deserved by the Roses, but didn’t fully do the Rise’s second half justice, as they put in a second half performance worth building on after their lacklustre first half. 

“Well, it definitely was disappointing,” Rise head coach, Anja Heiner-Møller, said afterwards. “I think there are some things we can take with us, especially in the second half, but in the first half, we were not playing our style of play, and they were stronger in their overall play, the second-balls and the duels, so we didn’t get to play the game we wanted in the first half, but we’re still proud that we came out in the second half and changed the picture of the game.”

Here are some other thoughts from this one:

  • The Roses attack has the potential to be the NSL’s best. Between Tanya Boychuk and Latifah Abdu, they’ve got two of the best forwards in the league, as seen by Boychuk’s goal last week and Abdu’s tally in this match. Yet, it’s one thing to be dangerous on paper, but it feels like Montréal already has a system that will get the most out of them, too. Thanks to the support of players such as Noémi Paquin out wide, and their midfield trio of Alli Hess, Charlotte Bilbault and Mégane Sauvé, they kept the ball ticking all game long, doing a great job of finding space in between lines. That opened up space for the runs of Boychuk and Abdu, who didn’t hesitate to make runs in behind the defence, which gave the Rise plenty to think about. 
  • Sticking with the Rise, they’ll want to find a way to get their forwards more involved going forward, as they struggled to get the ball to Holly Ward, Lisa Pechersky and Mariah Lee, especially early. The Rise do a good job of building up and finding Quinn with passes from the back, but Quinn then often lacked the support to combine, forcing them to make individual runs to break lines. Because of that, it’ll be interesting to see how the Rise adjust – between Ward and Pechersky, they’ve got two wide threats who can be dangerous 1v1 when they get involved, but they need to get Lee more involved at the #9. Perhaps, they can do that by dropping her a little deeper, or get her to stretch lines – in this game, she wasn’t able to do enough of either. 
  • On a more positive note, the Rise’s set-piece delivery, mostly taken care of by Nikki Stanton, was very good. They weren’t able to get on the end of many of her crosses, unfortunately, but that might just be something that comes with time as they develop set-piece routines. Heiner-Møller admitted after the game that it’s something they want to do, as she feels it can give them an edge in cagey games, and you can see why she believes that when seeing Stanton’s delivery – that can be a dangerous threat if used properly. 
  • Credit to Quinn for another strong performance in midfield, as they look to be playing more of an offensive role than they did in Seattle, where they were more of a pure #6 than a #8. Given that they’ve already got two well-taken PK goals (and won the PK in this game), had some excellent dribbles, and wasn’t shy in pushing forward, it seems like this role could suit them, especially if the Rise can get their attack clicking around them. 
  • Lastly, shout out to a good crowd at Swangard, as fans did a good job of filling the building for the first of many Rise matches here this season. Having done a good job of getting to BC Place for the NSL opener, it’s a good sign that the strong support carried over – that’ll be something they aim to build on the rest of the year. There aren’t many venues better to attend than a full Swangard on a nice day, and this match lived up to that billing for those who witnessed it, even if they weren’t able to see a home victory. 

(Image: Vancouver Rise FC)

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