Northern Super League celebrates inaugural season ahead of championship game

TORONTO – Marko Milanovic had his doubts when offered the post of AFC Toronto head coach in the fledgling Northern Super League.

“This league really exceeded my expectations by a mile, I would say. I didn’t know what to expect,’ Milanovic told reporters Thursday. “I wasn’t even sure whether to take the job or not at first, to be honest with you. But I’m so glad I did.”

And why not.

Fifteen months later, Milanovic is the inaugural Northern Super League coach of the year and is one win away from hoisting the Diana B. Matheson Cup, with only the Vancouver Rise standing in his way in Saturday’s championship game at BMO Field.

“We’re making history here,” Milanovic said.

Vancouver coach Anja Heiner-Moller had no qualms about jumping into uncharted waters.

“I was waiting for this league to come to Canada and I wanted to be in it,” said the former Danish international.

On the eve of the final, NSL co-founder and chief growth officer Diana Matheson and league president Christina Litz listed off the six-team league’s accomplishments, including ranking in the top five globally in pro women’s soccer with more than 275,000 people purchasing tickets in 2025.

The league has featured players from 19 countries with 101 Canadians and 47 from abroad. Seven NSL players — Toronto’s Kaylee Hunter and Emma Regan, Vancouver’s Quinn, Latifah Abdu, Holly Ward and Samantha Chang and Ottawa’s Desiree Scott — received call-ups from the Canadian senior side.

In total, 39 NSL players have senior national team experience with their country.

The average NSL salary is $75,000 with “progressive maternity leave” and fertility treatment benefits. On the field, the league averaged 2.6 goals a game with 85 per cent of matches decided by two goals or less.

Saturday’s final comes seven months after the opening kickoff, with both Vancouver and Toronto debuting on big stages.

Vancouver opened April 16 with a 1-0 win over the Calgary Wild before an announced crowd of 14,018 at B.C. Place Stadium. Three days later, Toronto lost 1-0 to the Montreal Roses before 14,518 at BMO Field.

AFC Toronto (16-6-3) finished atop the regular-season-standings, 12 points ahead of Vancouver (11-8-6) with the Rise tied on points with second-place Ottawa Rapid but trailing on goal difference.

Toronto and Vancouver split their five-game regular-season meetings, with each team finishing 2-2-1.

A goal by Jessica De Filippo gave Vancouver a 1-0 win over Toronto when the team met Aug. 17 at BMO Field in league play before an announced crowd of 7,771. Toronto has not lost since, unbeaten in nine (8-0-1) including the playoffs while outscoring the opposition 22-4 including a 7-0 demolition of Vancouver on Sept. 13 at York Lions Stadium.

The two teams had different routes to the final.

Toronto eased into the championship game with a 6-1 aggregate win over the Roses, winning 2-0 in Montreal and 4-1 in Toronto with Nigerian star Esther Okoronkwo scoring a hat trick at York Lions Stadium in the return leg delayed by a day due to a snowstorm.

Vancouver had a more challenging semifinal against Ottawa, advancing via penalty shootout after each team won 2-1 on their home turf.

The 17-year-old Hunter led Toronto with 15 goals in the regular season, second only to Ottawa forward D.B. Pridham’s 20. Vancouver’s Abdu was tied third with 11 goals.

Hunter was called into camp by Canada coach Casey Stoney during the October international window, only to be sidelined by injury.

Hunter and Okoronkwo are a formidable tandem in attack with Okoronkwo adept at unlocking defences to free up the elusive Hunter.

Okoronkwo led the league with eight assists, ahead of teammate Nikki Small and Vancouver’s Quinn with six. On the international front, she helped Nigeria to its 10th CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title with a 3-2 comeback victory over Morocco.

Okoronkwo, named the final’s Player of the Match, deserves to win African Player of the year, according to Milanovic.

Toronto scored a league-high 42 goals and conceded 24 (second only to Montreal’s 23). Vancouver scored 38 goals and conceded 36.

Toronto has kept winning despite an injury list that included Croix Soto, Kaela Hansen, Mya Jones, Amanda West, Leah Pais and Sonia Walk.

Jade Kovacevic made it back to the bench for the playoffs and Hansen may be able to play “a few minutes” Saturday, said Milanovic.

The injuries have made for a makeshift defence with Victoria Pickett dropping back from her normal midfield role.

Down the line, the league is looking at adding a seventh team in 2027 with an eye to Central and Western Canada.

The initial franchise fee for the league was $1 million, with a need for an estimated $8 million to $10 million in total invested capital over the first five seasons in addition to necessary spending on infrastructure.

Those numbers have since gone up, although Matheson declined to say by how much.

Construction crews will take over BMO Field after Saturday’s game to complete renovations ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2025.