Lauren Rowe scored her third goal in three matches, Olivia Chisholm earned her first career NSL assist, as AFC Toronto drew 1-1 against Ottawa Rapid FC in their first contest of the year.

Ottawa, ON (June 21, 2026) – Lauren Rowe scored her third goal in as many games on Sunday, as AFC Toronto earned a 1-1 draw against Ottawa Rapid FC at TD Place Stadium. Toronto (2-3-2) is undefeated in three straight games and sits fifth in the Northern Super League table with nine points.

Rapid FC took the early lead on Sunday off the foot of D.B. Pridham. Toronto responded minutes later, as Olivia Chisholm intercepted an Ottawa goal kick and fed the ball to Lauren Rowe, who found the back of the net for her third of the year. Chisholm earned her first career NSL assist on the goal. AFC Toronto created numerous chances in the second half, but ultimately couldn’t beat Ottawa goalkeeper Melissa Dagenais a second time.

“I’m quite pleased with most of the match outside of those first few minutes where we allowed that goal.” said head coach Marko Milanović. “Overall, I thought we created so many chances, so many great opportunities. (Melissa Dagenais) was obviously great in goal, but yeah, very proud of the effort. I thought we kept fighting, kept running. We were quite organised for most of the match, so a lot of positives to take from this game. As long as we continue to play this way, we'll be more than fine. Those goals will fall in.”

Next weekend, AFC Toronto heads West to take on Vancouver Rise FC for the third time this season at Swangard Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday, June 28 at 6:30 p.m. ET.

LAUREN ROWE: Lauren Rowe played a full 90 minutes on Sunday, scoring a goal and taking four shots, with two on net. The 21-year-old striker now has three goals in her last three games. In just her fifth start of the season, Rowe has surpassed her 2025 goal total of two.

OLIVIA CHISHOLM: Toronto native Olivia Chisholm earned her first career NSL assist on Rowe’s first-half goal.

KAELA HANSEN: Hansen came off the bench for her first NSL minutes of the season, after being sidelined with an injury to start the year.

BACK LINE: AFC Toronto’s seven goals against is tied with Montréal Roses FC for the fewest conceded in the NSL this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: AFC Toronto now holds a 2-2-2 record against Ottawa Rapid FC all-time.

UP NEXT: AFC Toronto faces Vancouver Rise FC at Swangard Stadium on Sunday, June 28 at 6:30 p.m. ET (Stream on CBC Gem and NSL.ca).

MATCH SUMMARY
AFC Toronto - 1 | Ottawa Rapid FC - 1
Venue: TD Place Stadium
Referee: Isabelle Duclos
Assistants: Stéphanie Fortin, Sean Hornsby
Fourth Official: Salma Flores-Desrochers
Referee Observer: Nathanaël De Wilde

SCORING SUMMARY
Ottawa Rapid FC: D.B. Pridham (3’)
AFC Toronto: L. Rowe (7’)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
33’ - Yellow: Sarah Stratigakis (AFC Toronto)
45+1’ - Yellow: Keera Melenhorst (Ottawa Rapid FC)
57’ - Yellow: Choo Hyojoo (Ottawa Rapid FC)
78’ - Yellow: Florence Belzile (Ottawa Rapid FC)

STARTING LINEUP & STATS
AFC Toronto Starting Lineup:

GK Sofia Manner (FIN)
DF Jordan Brewster (USA)
DF Ashley Cathro (USA)
DF Sarah Rollins (Toronto, ON)
MF Colby Barnett (USA)
MF Zoe Burns (USA)
MF Olivia Chisholm (Toronto, ON)
MF Nikayla Small (Pickering, ON)
MF Sarah Stratigakis (Woodbridge, ON)
FW Kaylee Hunter (Calgary, AB)
FW Lauren Rowe (Conception Bay South, NL)

Substitutes: Danielle Krzyzaniak (GK), Croix Soto (DF), Kaela Hansen (DF), Nyota Katembo (MF), Linda (MF), April Lantaigne (MF), Cloey Uddenberg (MF) Mia Fontana (FW), Kaila Novak (FW)

Total Shots: 21
Shots on Goal: 7
Fouls: 10
Offsides: 0
Corner Kicks: 4
Saves: 1

Photo Highlights
Media can access photo highlights here.

Video Highlights
Media can access video highlights from the match on the Northern Super League YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernSuperLeague 

Match Summary
A complete summary of the match facts and stats can be viewed at:
https://www.nsl.ca/games/2026-06-21-ottawa-toronto 

More from the locker room:

Lauren Rowe, on scoring her third goal in three games: “I feel confident. I think the group helps me feel more confident to keep taking chances on net, so I'm going to run with that going into the next game.”

Head coach Marko Milanović, on the team’s response after conceding early: “The response was great. We allowed a little bit of lack of concentration on our part. But to be fair, D.B finished phenomenally well from outside of the box, so that’s a great goal on their part. But we bounced back right away. We tied it up and I thought we played more than well enough to win the game when you look at the chances, but that's how it goes sometimes. I'm very proud of the girls and their effort and we move forward. It's still very early in the season, not even a third done.”

Milanović, on the team’s resilience: “We always try to play the same way and keep our emotions intact. The girls responded quite well. We've already been in so many big games, and this team has been through a lot, even though it's a very young team. We have a lot of experience, so I trust them. I wasn't worried that we're going to fall apart or anything like that because I just know how tough mentally we are.”

Milanović, on the team’s offensive press: “Quite pleased with the chances that we created. I thought we created more than enough in the last few games to score two or three, maybe even more goals. But that's sometimes how it goes. You have these stretches in every season where maybe you're missing a lot of chances. But as long as we continue to create them, I know they will fall eventually. So the key thing for us is to be defensively as solid as we have been. And then if we're able to create some of these chances, percentages are that we're going to convert.”

Milanović, on Kaela Hansen’s return to the pitch on Sunday: “Yeah, I thought she was good. … She hasn't played in a long time. Obviously fitness-wise, she can't last more than 20, 30 minutes at this point. But I thought she gave us good energy, I thought she was really good defensively, and even got forward on a few occasions.”

Captain Nikki Small, on the key takeaway from the match: “Our continued fight. I think even when things weren't going our way, shots not falling, maybe passes not going the way we wanted, we still pressed as hard as we could. We worked together as a team, we communicated as a team, and I think throughout the season you're going to see how that's going to help us in the later stretches. Yeah, we're only going up from here.”

Small, on continuing to push when shots aren’t falling in Toronto’s favour: “Honestly, it's just the way the game goes. I think we were giving (Dagenais) a lot of shots and a lot of good quality shots. Credits to her, she did really good. Yeah, next time the shots are going to fall.”