The Northern Super League Championship (NSL) is marketing its product very well by opening the 2026 league schedule with Vancouver Rise against AFC Toronto. It was a rematch of the NSL’s Championship final that occurred last November at BMO Field in Toronto.
However, this season opener rematch was played at Swangard Stadium in Vancouver and based on Vancouver Rise’s come from behind win in the Championship final, one would have to say that the Rise were the slight favourite, playing in front of their home fans.
However, Nickayla “Niki” Small was named the team captain of AFC Toronto for the 2026 season and she made no secret that she was out for revenge in this first rematch of against Vancouver since the championship final.
Therefore, it is safe to say that with revenge as the motivation, AFC Toronto was on the front foot from the opening whistle in this game and capitalized on a splendid combination play that Zoe Burns finished with a grounder of shot that gave AFC Toronto the early lead in the 8th minute.
Vancouver, however, refused to let AFC silence their home crowd and responded with two unanswered goals by Reyes (18′) and Abdu (41′) to take a 2-1 lead into what must have been a positive Vancouver Rise locker room at halftime.
However, AFC Toronto halftime huddle had to have some positive comments also, since AFC was dominating the action offensively when Vancouver scored two goals against the run of play. Ironically, the last game the two teams played each other, it was a tale of two halves.
Similar to this game, AFC had controlled the play until the game was stopped due to bad weather and the temporary stoppage was the momentum breaker that helped Vancouver erased AFC’s 1-0 halftime lead for to a 2-1 come from behind win and the NSL Championship.
Maybe there were hopes in the AFC team changeroom at the half that they could return the favour, but this seemed like a different kind of game to the final. It was the first game of the season and putting preseason games aside, it was a reference point for the season and points versus a championship final.
The second half was a bit tricky for the teams because Vancouver showed that they could have weathered the storm and responded accordingly for the lead while AFC Toronto felt like they had control of the game and were playing like the better team which had lost the lead and was behind on the scoreboard.
However, AFC’s fine play was rewarded when Stratigakis scored the equalizer in the 61st minute, and at that point of the game, it seemed like just a matter of time since Vancouver Rise had no answer for the questions AFC Toronto forward Esther were asking of their defense
Esther Okoronkwo finally put her exclamation mark to her performance when she controlled a soft goalward shot with her chest and in one motion, turned, and released a right footed shot into the right corner of the Vancouver net that gave AFC Toronto a 3-2 lead they never relinquished.
Esther has been undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best striker in the NSL and the teams in the league should ensure that she remains playing so the league could improve to world class standards. When in possession on the ball Esther was unstoppable in one on one situations against the Vancouver Rise to start the season.
In review, the good news for AFC fans is that coach Marko Milanovic did a good job in managing his substitutions, and opened the 2026 season with a win compared to last season’s opener lost.
In addition, Esther was her dominant self offensively, scoring the winner before she was substituted and newly appointed captain Nikki Small led the AFC ‘s ball possession late in the game to shut down any comeback Vancouver was hoping to generate for the 3-2 win.
AFC Toronto home opener is against Halifax Tides FC on Sunday, May, 3rd, at BMO Field 12:00 pm