Montreal, August 29, 2026 - The Montréal Roses beat Halifax Tides FC 1-0 on Saturday afternoon, in front of 17,077 fans at Stade Saputo. It is the largest crowd ever recorded for a Northern Super League match. Anne-Valérie Seto scored the only goal of the match in the 76th minute. Montreal (10-4-4, 34 points) are back on the road on Sunday, September 6 in Ottawa, before returning to their supporters on September 10 at Stade Boréale. Tickets are on sale at en.rosesmtl.ca/tickets.

The previous record of 14,518 was set by the Roses at the very first match in club history, in Toronto. On Saturday, for the first time, the club played at Stade Saputo, and the welcome matched the occasion. The noise never really stopped: it climbed on every corner, every turnover, every ball pushed forward.

Patience was required all the same. Halifax have one of the best defences in the league and spent an hour proving it, with a deep block, tight lines and a goalkeeper in Adrianna Toth who turned away everything that came. The Roses had the ball and created chances, but the first half ended goalless.

The turning point came in the 68th minute, when Sabrina Allen was shown a second yellow card, leaving the Tides with 10 players for the final half hour. Space opened up, and the Roses went into it.

Eight minutes later, Anne-Valérie Seto found the net, her second goal of the season, and Stade Saputo responded the way the club had been hoping for months. In goal, Anna Karpenko recorded a seventh clean sheet of the season, the most in the Northern Super League.

The day also marked the return of Evelyn Badu, on in the 68th minute, back from Ghana after the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

MATCH STATISTICS

• Possession: Halifax 46% – Montreal 54%
• Shots: 24 for Halifax (6 on target) – 17 for Montreal (4 target)
• Completed passes: 320 for Halifax – 370 for Montreal
• Corners: 4 for Halifax – 7 for Montreal
• Yellow cards: 2 for Halifax – 1 for Montreal

Venue: Stade Saputo

Referee: Alain Ruch

Assistant Referees: Paulin-Junior Vanié, Victoria Lafortune

"We knew it would be a match of patience, that Halifax would defend well, and the group stuck to the plan for an hour without getting frustrated. The players showed a lot of courage and resilience, and they fully deserve this moment. But it was the 17,077 people in the stands who carried this team to the end. I hope there were a lot of young people among them that we were able to inspire. This is a historic match that the entire organization will remember forever, and we can’t wait to see our supporters out in numbers again on September 10 at Stade Boréale." — Maryse Bard-Martel, Montréal Roses Interim Head Coach.

The Roses return to action on Sunday, September 6 in Ottawa, before hosting their supporters at Stade Boréale on September 10. Tickets are on sale at en.rosesmtl.ca/tickets.

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