AFC Toronto returns to the NSL playoffs with one goal - Toronto Star

It all starts Saturday afternoon against the Ottawa Rapid at York Lions Stadium. 

AFC Toronto midfielder Nikayla Small, centre, battles for the ball against the Montreal Roses last season. Small has led the Northern Super League in tackles in back-to-back seasons.

One year after an upset loss at BMO Field in the Northern Super League’s first championship game, AFC Toronto returns to the playoffs with a bit more experience and motivation to finish the job.

It all starts Saturday afternoon against the Ottawa Rapid in the first leg of their Northern Super League semifinal at York Lions Stadium. The second game goes Nov. 7 in Ottawa, with the winner determined by aggregate score.

The top-ranked Montreal Roses will take on the fourth-place Vancouver Rise in the other two-leg series, starting Sunday night. The semifinal winners will play for the Diana B. Matheson Cup in Ottawa on Nov. 14.

AFC Toronto finished first in the 2025 regular season by a wide margin before falling 2-1 to the Rise in the final. This season, Toronto wound up third with 39 points, one behind second-place Ottawa in the six-team league.

Midfielder Nikayla Small, AFC Toronto’s captain, expects a “dogfight.”

“I think every time we play Ottawa it’s a midfield battle, and whoever has a better performance there usually comes out with a win,” said Small. “So, I think our aggression and being able to pick off passes and look forward right away to catch them off guard, to really test their backline, that could be key.”

AFC Toronto held a slight edge head-to-head in the regular season: 2-1-2. Ottawa’s biggest threat is striker Delaney Pridham, who scored 10 goals in 21 regular-season games.

“Her ability to hold the ball up top, make runs from behind, she’s versatile that way,” AFC Toronto coach Marko Milanovic said about Pridham. “So you have to be careful and defend different spaces when you play against her.”  

Vancouver’s Jessica De Filippo led NSL scorers with 13 goals, two more than Toronto’s Kaylee Hunter and Montreal’s Elyse Bennett.

While Pridham poses the greatest risk, Milanovic added that Ottawa’s depth at midfield and on the wings adds to the challenge for Toronto’s defence.

“It’s a type of attack where you have to be very organized to stop them, or to at least limit them,” he said. “We did a great job in our past two games against them. We just need to be locked in and focused and we will be OK.”

Toronto’s midfield is anchored by Small, the 23-year-old from Pickering who topped the NSL in tackles for the second straight season with 124, a whopping 32 more than second-place Julianne Vallerand of the Halifax Tides.

In their last meeting on Sept. 26, Toronto shut out Ottawa 3-0 at York Lions Stadium. A month earlier, also at home, Toronto beat Ottawa 2-1.

After a pair of games at BMO Field, home of Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, AFC Toronto returns to its York Lions home, where attendance has averaged about 2,500 this season.  

“I’m really excited to see York fully packed,” said Small. “We’re just excited to get a win in front of them ... they’ve been with us all season.”

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Gilbert Ngabo is a Toronto-based sports reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @dugilbo.