Vancouver Rise's Latifah Abdu (right) celebrates with teammate Jessika Cowart after scoring a goal against Ottawa Rapid FC during the first half of an NSL semifinal soccer match, in Burnaby, B.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rich Lam
Vancouver Rise's Latifah Abdu (right) battles with Ottawa Rapid FC's Ellen Gibson during the first half of an NSL semifinal soccer match, in Burnaby, B.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rich Lam
VANCOUVER - Latifah Abdu scored twice in the first half to lead the Vancouver Rise to a 2-1 win over Ottawa Rapid FC in the first leg of a Northern Super League semifinal on Tuesday.
Ottawa's Delaney Pridham halved the deficit in the second half. The semifinal's second leg is Saturday at Ottawa's TD Place.
The other semifinal features league-leading AFC Toronto and the Montreal Roses.Â
Toronto takes a 2-0 lead from the first leg of that series into Sunday's second match.Â
Aggregate winners of the semifinals advance to the single championship match Nov. 15 at Toronto's BMO Field, where the first champion in the new ºÃÉ«tv women's pro soccer league will be crowned.
Abdu took advantage of a sloppy play in front of Ottawa's net in the 14th minute as Ottawa keeper Melissa Dagenais attempted a pass out of the box at Swangard Stadium.
Abdu struck again on the run in the 21st minute when she threw on the brakes to give herself space to send a left-footer home.
Pridham halved the deficit in the 66th minute when she deked Vancouver defender Rebecca Lake and put a low, left-footer by Rise keeper Morgan McAslan.
Pridham, who led the NSL in goals in its inaugural season with 19, scored her first playoff goal.
"We were not happy with how we showed up in the first half – that was not ourselves," said Ottawa coach Katrine Pederson. "We met a very good Vancouver team who were all over us, and we struggled."
"We came out with a completely different mindset and mentality in the second half. We didn’t dominate the entire half, but we were much better. We created chances, got in behind, and scored."
This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published Nov. 4, 2025.
The ºÃÉ«tv Press. All rights reserved.
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