Around the NSL: Vancouver rising; a tale of three strikes; Tides turning

Welcome to an early edition of View from Row Z! There’s a fantastic Friday night match-up in the works and it would be remiss to not give the contest a proper hype up before kickoff.

Before getting into that, let’s give some credit where credit is due: Vancouver is finally rising in the ranks.

Once again head coach Anja Heiner-Moller threw Jessica Wulf into the net and again the Japanese phenom proved the right choice.

Wulf withstood 16 shots from AFC Toronto with the Rise managing just six. The young goalkeeper also survived all five corners from the Mighty Maroons and only relinquished a goal in the second minute of added time to Richmond Hill, Ont., product Cloey Uddenberg’s foot.

Montreal’s Latifa Abdu opened the scoring in the 11th minute off a steal in the Mighty Maroon’s end before Toronto native Quinn found the back of the net at the 33rd minute mark on a penalty kick — the second successful boot in back-to-back games from the decorated Olympian.

And with that, home team took the game 2-1 at Swangard Stadium.

But that wasn’t the only exciting Saturday tilt. Here are other storylines from Week 5 around the NSL.

Highlight(s) of the week

It was a tale of three strikes at TD Place in Saturday’s opening contest between the Montreal Roses and Ottawa Rapid.

Edmonton’s Tanya Boychuk had both goals for the Roses, opening the scoring in the 15th minute before adding another before the halftime whistle.

Boychuk’s first was a beauty of a header off a Lisa Pechersky pass. Her second was just as spectacular — an exciting strike while surrounded by defenders in Ottawa’s box.

Even the Rapid’s lone goal was executed with perfection.

It was Korean phenom Choo Hyo-Joo who punched back for Ottawa in the 62nd minute. Her beauty of a boot came off a clean rocket of a cross pass from Delaney Pridham.

The strike would have been a save-of-the-year candidate for Toronto’s Anna Karpenko, who had another sensational game. Is it too early to throw her hat in the ring as a Golden Glove candidate?

The slugfest between the league’s top two teams ended with Ottawa registering 14 shots while Montreal countered with 16 — six coming on target. The Rapid had five corners to the Roses’ four, but couldn’t capitalize on any as Montreal took the three points to launch itself into a four-point cushion in the standings.

Turning the Tides

Halifax rode into McMahon Stadium with a chip on its shoulder coming off back-to-back losses in Week 4 — first being shut out by Ottawa on May 13, then losing at home 2-1 to the struggling Rise on Victoria Day.

That week is now far in the rear-view mirror as the Tides shut out the Calgary Wild 4-0 on the road, outshooting the Wild 12-7 with nine out of the 12 shots on target.

Halifax native Saorla Miller opened the scoring in the seventh minute off a rebound before Montreal product Julianne Vallerand added to the lead in the 22nd with a perfectly placed header off a Sarah Taylor corner — one of the two on the day for the Tides.

Miller scored for the second time in the first half in the 25th off a downfield boot from Addy Weichers. Vallerand also boasted two goals on the day, adding the Tides’ third assurance marker in the 78th.

Kitchener product Rylee Foster made nine saves on the day, including a finger-grazing tip in the 57th minute against the Wild’s Kahli Johnson.

Calgary — whose best finish this season came in Week 4, a 2-2 draw against the league-leading Roses — has a tough task of digging itself out of the basement of the league, with only one point to its name.

Meanwhile, the Tides now sit in third in the standings, two points behind the Ottawa Rapid’s at nine.

Game(s) to watch

Speaking of the Tides being two points back of the Rapid, it’s time to address why this column is in print a day earlier than usual.

Friday’s matinee tilt (3 p.m. CT, TSN) is between the two clubs. Halifax will be looking to Week 1 for inspiration — after downing the Rapid 3-1 in its season- and home-opener. Ottawa will be looking to Week 4 for inspiration — after shutting out the Tides 2-0 at TD Place.

And if this isn’t enough to look forward to on the weekend, the Montreal Roses host the Vancouver Rise at home on Saturday (12 p.m. CT, YouTube, Radio-Canada). That’s right, the defending champs versus the league standings’ leader.

Finally, on Sunday, Calgary hosts Toronto (2 p.m. CT, CBC Gem) in the hopes of picking up three points at home.

Settle in for a fun three days of footy.

winnipegfreepress.com/graceannepaizen