Wednesday, August 12 at 6 p.m. at Stade Boréale: Tickets on sale now at en.rosesmtl.ca/tickets 

On Wednesday night, the Montréal Roses play a match unlike any in their history: their first ever in the W Canadian Championship. A quarterfinal against Simcoe County Rovers FC at Stade Boréale, under one very simple rule. One match, no return leg. The winner moves on, the other goes home. All tickets are $15 at en.rosesmtl.ca/tickets. 

The stakes reach well past a single August evening. Launched by Canada Soccer, the new national competition brings together clubs from the Northern Super League and Premier Soccer Leagues Canada to crown the first champion of Canadian professional women’s soccer. The winning club will carry the country’s colours to the Concacaf W Champions Cup in 2027, with the first ever FIFA Women’s Club World Cup waiting at the end of that road in 2028. The path to the world stage starts here, at Stade Boréale. 

The opponent

Simcoe County Rovers FC are no token opponent. Founded in 2021 by former Canadian international Julian de Guzman, the Barrie club arrives in Laval wearing a double crown.

In 2025, the Rovers first swept the League1 Ontario title with 45 points from 18 matches. They followed it by winning the Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship, becoming the first Ontario side ever to lift the League1 Canada national trophy. Two titles in a single season, from a club then just four years old. 

So it is the best team from the tier below that walks into Stade Boréale. And in a cup, the name on the shirt protects no one. Upsets are part of the traditions, and Simcoe arrive with nothing to lose.

What to watch

A format with no safety net. No second leg, no second chance. If the sides are still level after 90 minutes, extra time decides it, then penalties if needed. This is a night when taking your chances will count for more than keeping the ball. 

The response. Beaten 1-0 by Halifax Tides FC last Friday, the Roses made no attempt to dress up the performance. Head Coach Robert Rositoiu was the first to say his team hadn’t been good enough that night. The schedule offers him an immediate chance to put it right. 

A first time. Whatever the outcome, the Roses will write the opening lines of their story in this competition on Wednesday. The kind of night people still talk about years later, especially when it ends well. 

Pride at the heart of the night. Beyond the result, this match puts the community and the club’s values of inclusion front and centre. A night to be lived in the stands as much as on the grass.

Broadcast and tickets

Wednesday, August 12, 2026 · 6 p.m. ET · Stade Boréale, Laval

Live on CBC Gem and ICI Tout.tv. 

BE THERE: tickets are on sale starting at $15 at en.rosesmtl.ca/tickets.