Ottawa Rapid FC defeated AFC Toronto 4-0 in the second edition of the Battle of Ontario on a sunny afternoon at York Lions Stadium in Toronto Saturday.
A hat trick from D.B. Prindham and a first career goal from Stella Downing gave Ottawa the commanding win, as they secured back-to-back wins over Toronto this season.
There were two key changes for Ottawa as goalkeeper Melissa Dagenais and Julia Benati made their first career starts.
“On a personal level, [the match]was obviously very fun and a good experience to finally get to play out and show the work that I’ve been putting in,” said Dagenais. “I think it’s motivating to see all the progress that we’ve made from game one against Toronto to no. You can see a clear difference possession-wise, how we play as a team, and how we connect. It’s inspiring for the games to come.”
Ottawa scores early from kickoff
Ottawa capitalized on its first opportunity and took the early lead in the first minute. A through ball from Jyllisa Harris sent Pridham past the Toronto defensive line and in on goal, where she slotted the ball into the bottom right corner to give Ottawa the 1-0 lead.
Catching Toronto on the back foot, Ottawa came close to a second goal in the 5th minute, when a linkup play between Pridham and Ellen Gibson led to a dangerous shot on goal from inside the box.
After the unnerving 15 minutes, Toronto attempted to settle into the game with chances of its own. Colby Barnett’s cross into the box found the feet of Victoria Pickett, whose volley just sailed over the bar. A minute later, Esther Okoronkwo laid a pass at the feet of Shaina Ashouri, whose shot also just went over the bar.
Ottawa continued its attacking pressure through clever combination play, and in the 20th minute, Downing found Pridham at the top of the six-yard box, where she continued to pester the Toronto defense.
Ottawa continues to add to the scoresheet
In the 21st minute, Pridham capitalized on a Toronto defensive miscue. A slow back pass from Nikayla Small into space between Hong Hye-ji and Sierra Cota-Yarde was miscommunicated, and as Hong backed out of the pass, Pridham latched onto the loose ball and, in a similar position to her first goal, slotted it past Cota-Yarde to double Ottawa’s lead.
In the 28th minute, Ottawa’s intricate passing sequence led to their third goal of the afternoon. From her half, Pridham curled a long ball into space, finding Melanie Forbes down the right side. Taking the ball upfield, she slid a pass towards the top of the six-yard box, where a diving Downing placed the ball into the net to make it 3-0 for Ottawa.
After the break, Ottawa was denied by the woodwork in the 50th minute. Hyo-Joo Choo drove at the Toronto defensive line, sidestepping Small into the penalty box, and curled a shot past Cota-Yarde that hit the inside of the post and bounced out.
In the 56th minute, Toronto had an opportunity to get on the scoresheet. A scooped pass from Kaylee Hunter found Small, who laid a pass into the six-yard box to Okoronkwo, but her shot went safely into the hands of Dagenais.
In the 60th minute, Forbes came close to her first goal. A lifted pass over the top from Harris found Forbes in tight on goal, but she sent her shot just wide of the left post.
A minute later, Ottawa took advantage of another Toronto defensive miscue to add its fourth goal of the afternoon. With pressure from Pridham, Sarah Rollins released a pass that deflected off Pridham into the path of Forbes. Forbes calmly collected the ball and played a pass across to Pridham, who placed the ball into the bottom right corner to score the first hat-trick in NSL history. This was also Pridham’s seventh goal of the season, leading the way in the Golden Boot race.
In the 67th minute, the NSL’s first-ever signing, Jade Kovacevic, made her first appearance after sitting out the beginning of the season due to injury. With her first touch of the match, she found Hunter at the top of the box, whose shot from distance had to be parried away by Dagenais. A minute later, Hunter had another opportunity as Small played a ball into the six-yard box, but Hunter’s redirected header went wide of the goal.
On Kovacevic’s debut, head coach Marko Milanovic said, “It was great to see Jade on the field. It’s been a long time coming. She’s been through a lot – the entire preseason and now the beginning of the season – she’s had multiple injuries, and finally, she’s back. I think she looked great when she stepped on the field, and we were planning to give her about 20-25 minutes regardless of the result. We’re happy that she’s here.”
It was a complete performance from Ottawa as they dominated both the score and the stat sheet. They were a constant threat offensively, finding space behind the defensive line and creating opportunities through smart passing sequences. They did not allow Toronto to get settled in the match, with credit to the Ottawa defensive line for the clean sheet.
“Before we played today, we talked about our last game against Toronto, where we were chasing and not dictating a lot, and we wanted that to be different today. And it certainly was. I was looking at my team attacking, and the willingness to keep the ball… I’m very proud of my team’s performance, and the players coming off the bench as well. I’m a very happy coach,” said Ottawa head coach Katrine Pedersen post-game.
Speaking on his team’s performance, Milanovic said, “This was our worst performance of the year. There’s no question about that. I never felt we had full control of the match, which, in most of our other games, we’ve had that control when it came to possession and creating chances. Not that we didn’t create, we did create a few chances, but overall it was, it was poor.”
This was echoed by Pickett and Regan post-game. “I think we honestly have to take in the negatives. It was a poor performance,” said Pickett. “We need to look at what we can fix for the next game and move forward, and take the positives as well. But to be blunt, there were more negatives than positives. I think as long as we put our best foot forward for the next game, focus on the next game, figure out what we can do, fix those issues, we’ll be good for that.”
“I think you can look at a tactics board all day, but if you don’t really want to win, that’s what happens. And I think they wanted it more than us today,” said the captain.
Ottawa found success exploiting the Toronto defensive line by finding open channels and counter attacking using the long ball. Pedersen said post-game that “We always want to have a threat in front of and behind the back line, so it is something we’re looking for. It’s always good to have the speed on the last line because it helps us when we play balls in there. We want to utilize the space they give us and try to take advantage when they do. There’s a balance between being forward-minded and being patient, and it worked very well today.”
This was echoed by Pridham, “We’ve done analysis and are seeing where the spaces are with the back three and pulling them off the back line. There are spaces behind, and we capitalized on that.”
Ottawa Rapid FC’s next match will be away at Wanderers Ground as they will face Halifax Tides FC on Tuesday, June 10. AFC Toronto will also be on the road as they face Vancouver Rise FC at Swangard Stadium on Wednesday, June 11.
