In the words of Christine Sinclair, the all-time international top scorer for men or women: What a difference a year makes. On Saturday at BMO Field in Toronto, Vancouver Rise became the first champions of the inaugural Northern Super League season. It was a triumphant conclusion to a history-making campaign that has set the ball rolling for professional women's football in Canada.
Esther Okoronkwo's goal of making it to the Northern Super League inaugural championship game has been achieved. The 28-year-old attacker scored three times in the first 27 minutes of Monday's semifinal match at snow-covered York Lions Stadium and the regular-season champion AFC Toronto defeated the visiting Montreal Roses 4-1, taking the two-leg aggregate 6-1. Lauren Rowe added a fourth goal for Toronto in the 84th minute.
