The Montréal Roses beat Ottawa Rapid FC 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at TD Place, in an important meeting between the top two teams in the standings. Elyse Bennett, Lisa Pechersky and Noémi Paquin all scored in the win. The result moves the Roses (11-4-4, 37 points) four points clear of Ottawa at the top of the Northern Super League, with six matches left in the regular season. Next up at home: Thursday, September 10 against AFC Toronto at Stade Boréale. Tickets are on sale at en.rosesmtl.ca/tickets.
Elyse Bennett opened the scoring from a perfectly weighted Hailey Whitaker cross. It was an 11th goal of the season for the Montreal forward, who once again sits alone at the top of the NSL Golden Boot race.
Lisa Pechersky doubled the lead with a strike from outside the box, the finest goal of the match. Ottawa answered with two goals of their own to level the score. It was Noémi Paquin who settled it in the end, set up by Evelyn Badu, whose return to action continues to pay off.
The match also marked the return of Stéphanie Hill, who played her first minutes since June 13.
MATCH STATISTICS
- Possession: Montreal 42% – Ottawa 58%
- Shots: 6 for Montreal (3 on target) – 10 for Ottawa (4 on target)
- Completed passes: 336 for Montreal – 475 for Ottawa
- Corners: 1 for Montreal – 3 for Ottawa
- Yellow cards: 1 for Montreal – 1 for Ottawa
Venue: TD Place
Referee: Sheila Couture
Assistant Referees: Allycia Carlucci, Sean Hornsby
"We had a really good match, where both teams went blow for blow. Credit to Ottawa, these are always big matches against them. I’m extremely pleased with how we started: lively, efficient and full of intent. I also liked the resilience we showed in the moments when we needed it. Seeing the players’ effort and focus rewarded at the end is really satisfying. We scored three very good goals and there’s a lot of positive to keep building on. Now we turn our attention quickly to our next opponent. The group is focused, on a mission, and we’re looking forward to taking on the next task together." — Maryse Bard-Martel, Montréal Roses Interim Head Coach.
The Roses host AFC Toronto on Thursday, September 10 at 7 p.m. at Stade Boréale. They will meet Ottawa twice more before the end of the season, on October 2 and October 23, both at Stade Boréale. Tickets for home matches are on sale now from $28 at en.rosesmtl.ca/tickets.