Around the NSL: Roaring Rapid; Mighty Maroons motoring; Wild still looking for first win
NSL storylines from Week 13 and 14
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WELCOME back to the View from Row Z!
What a fortnight of footy in the Northern Super League. With two Week 15 games already in the books, this edition of the View will look a little different, capping off all the action from Week 13 and 14.
Let’s start with questions going into the two games left in Week 15.
NSL PHOTO
The Ottawa Rapid came away with a 2-1 win over the Halifax Tides in Week 13. Halifax gets its chance to avenge the loss at home on Monday.
Can the Rapid be stopped?
This is the question the Halifax Tides must be asking as they get set to host a team that hasn’t lost since dropping Week 5’s contest 2-1 to the Montreal Roses. You have to go back to June 21 for the last time the Rapid didn’t get a win, AFC Toronto drawing Ottawa 1-1 on the road.
The Rapid enter Week 15 with a 10-2-1 record and a league-leading 31 points — a regulation win-plus clear of the Montreal Roses, who beat Vancouver 4-3 on the road Wednesday but dropped its Week 14 contest at home 2-1 to the Mighty Maroons.
The loss gave Ottawa breathing room atop the table.
Forward Delaney Baie Pridham is tied for most goals in the league with the Roses’ Elyse Bennett at eight. Pridham picked up her eighth tally in Week 13 against — that’s right — the Tides.
Halifax is a solid middle of the pack team that trails Toronto by four points. A reminder that the Tides opened the season at home with a 3-1 win over the Rapid.
Halifax is also riding a 1-0 win over the Rise from Week 14 after falling 2-1 to Ottawa on the road in Week 13. Monday’s long weekend contest (1 p.m., NSL YouTube Watch Party) is a highly anticipated Week 13 rematch.
Mighty Maroons firmly in the mix
With the Roses and Rapid taking up a lot of airtime this season — deservedly so as the clubs boast the top two goal scorers — Toronto has quietly chipped away to maintain a decent third-place record.
The Mighty Maroons have a reasonably comfortable 21 points, which is just over a regulation win-plus above the Tides and two regulation wins behind Montreal (27).
The club has won its last two games, including an impressive 2-0 shutout on the road at Stade Boréale in Week 14.
Forwards Lauren Rowe and Kaylee Hunter are having fantastic seasons. Rowe sits third in goals with six, while Hunter has five and finds herself in a four-way tie for fourth.
Both are responsible for a goal apiece in the Week 14 victory — pretty impressive stuff against potential Golden Glove nominee Anna Karpenko.
Speaking of goalkeepers, Sabrina D’Angelo had a heckuva game on July 23. Montreal controlled possession throughout the match and launched 12 shots her way, with three on target. She also survived five corners.
The club took its first game of Week 15 1-0 at home against a hungry Calgary Wild team. And Toronto has the opportunity to gain even more on Montreal in the standings as it rolls into McMahon Stadium on Saturday (3 p.m. TSN) in a rematch of Tuesday’s contest — Wild and Toronto closing out the home-and-home long weekend series.
Spoiler alert for Week 15: Hunter netted her fifth goal of the season in the Tuesday matchup, and D’Angelo posted another shutout.
Dear Wild, we see you trying
Calgary may have only two points on the season — and have yet to win a game — but it really isn’t for lack of effort.
The most frustrating part is it always seems to lose close games. The Wild’s Week 15 loss was 1-0 to Toronto, and in Week 14, it was a 2-1 defeat by Ottawa.
The Wild will be taken over by assistant coach Kory Babington — who was only hired last week — as head coach Leah Blayney has been granted a leave of absence to attend to a private family matter, the league announced Friday. Maybe Babington can work some magic?
What’s stranger about the Wild is there is a team the club can beat on any given day: Montreal. Both of Calgary’s draws have come against the Roses — 2-2 in Week 4 and 1-1 in Week 9. While the Wild did lose 2-0 to Montreal in Week 13, again, it wasn’t close to a blowout, even by soccer standards.
The club will get its next crack at the Roses in Week 18 on Aug. 23 at Stade Boréale. If that’s not a motivator this far into the season, there doesn’t appear to be many others.
Happy long weekend watching, superfans.
winnipegfreepress.com/graceannepaizen