Esther Okoronkwo and Sarah Stratigakis both tallied a goal and an assist to give AFC Toronto the first win of the second Northern Super League season
Vancouver, BC (April 24, 2026) – AFC Toronto kicked off their regular season campaign in style on Friday night with a 3-2 win over Vancouver Rise FC at Swangard Stadium. Sarah Stratigakis and Esther Okoronkwo both contributed a goal and an assist, helping Toronto clinch three points to start the season atop the Northern Super League table.
Zoe Burns opened the scoring for Toronto eight minutes in, striking in a ball that snuck through the box by Sarah Stratigakis. This marks Burns’ third career NSL goal, after she scored a brace last August against Calgary Wild FC. 10 minutes later, Rise FC tied things up off the foot of Camila Reyes, then later in the half got their first lead of the match from Latifah Abdu.
Stratigakis tied things up for Toronto in the second half, putting a clean finish on a free kick delivered into the box by Okoronkwo. The Nigerian striker then put the game away for Toronto in the 72nd minute, delivering a strike from inside the box off a corner kick set piece. With the two goals, Okoronkwo now has nine NSL goals and eight career assists.
“I thought it required a lot of character to come back,” said head coach Marko Milanović, on his team’s resilience. “We were in a tough spot at one point, down 2-1, but the girls found a way, and I’m really proud of that.”
AFC Toronto captain Nikayla Small, on the team’s goals for the season: “Obviously this team has big goals. We achieved a lot last year, yes, being in its inaugural season, but we strive for more. I think moving into every game, we take it one game at a time. So it started here, we won this game, and then we're working on to the next. We're not looking too far to the future.”
AFC Toronto will now travel back to Ontario for their home opener, set to host Halifax Tides FC at BMO Field on Sunday, May 3 at 12 p.m. ET.
ON THE SCORESHEET: Esther Okoronkwo kicks off her 2026 campaign with a goal and an assist on Friday night. Last season, Okoronkwo led the league in assists (7) and finished fourth in goals (8).
STARTING STRONG: AFC Toronto open their season with a win for the first time, after falling 1-0 to Montréal Roses FC in their inaugural match last season.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: With the win, AFC Toronto improves to 3-1-2 against Vancouver Rise FC in regular season action all-time. This marks their second win at Swangard Stadium, after defeating Rise FC 3-2 in Burnaby on June 11, 2025.
UP NEXT: AFC Toronto hosts Halifax Tides FC at BMO Field on Sunday, May 3 at 12 pm ET for their home opener. (Stream on CBC Gem and NSL.ca; French language coverage on RDS)
MATCH SUMMARY
AFC Toronto - 3 Vancouver Rise FC - 2
Venue: Swangard Stadium
Referee: Carly Shaw-MacLaren
Assistants: Gabrielle Lemieux, Allycia Carlucci
Fourth Official: Alain Ruch
Referee Observer: Bob Sawtell
Attendance: 4,723
SCORING SUMMARY
AFC Toronto: Z. Burns (8’), Sarah Stratigakis (61’), E. Okoronkwo (72’)
Vancouver Rise FC: C. Reyes (19’), L. Abdu (41’)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
45’ - Yellow: Camila Reyes (Vancouver Rise FC)
64’ - Yellow: Nikki Stanton (Vancouver Rise FC)
65’ - Yellow: Sarah Stratigakis (AFC Toronto)
79’ - Yellow: Jaylyn Wright (Vancouver Rise FC)
STARTING LINEUP & STATS
AFC Toronto Starting Lineup:
GK Sierra Cota-Yarde (Toronto, ON)
DF Ashley Cathro (Victoria, BC)
DF Victoria Pickett (Barrie, ON)
DF Sarah Rollins (Toronto, ON)
MF Zoe Burns (USA)
MF Colby Barnett (USA)
MF Olivia Chisholm (Toronto, ON)
MF Nikayla Small (Pickering, ON)
MF Sarah Stratigakis (Toronto, ON)
FW Kaylee Hunter (Calgary, AB)
FW Esther Okoronkwo (Nigeria)
Substitutes: Sofia Manner (GK), Danielle Krzyzaniak (GK), April Lantaigne (MF), Jordan Brewster (DF), Kaila Novak (FW), Nyota Katembo (MF), Mia Fontana (FW), Cloey Uddenberg (MF), Lauren Rowe (FW)
Total Shots: 16
Shots on Goal: 7
Fouls: 7
Offsides: 3
Corner-Kicks: 7
Saves: 1
Images Highlights of Game: https://afctoronto.scoreplay.io/link?id=276932&token=0b69a3f7-34fe-4bd8-802b-bfac6583eff7
Video Highlights of Game
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/2026-04-24-vancouver-toronto
More from the locker room:
Head coach Marko Milanović, on the energy from the sold-out Swangard Stadium: “I thought it was a great showing for the league. Full stadium, I thought the atmosphere was incredible. Really nice venue, two good teams. So overall, I thought we represented the league quite well. Off to a great start in the second year.”
AFC Toronto captain Nikayla Small, on the fanfare of playing in Vancouver’s home opener: “Honestly, it gave us a lot of motivation. This team doesn't need a lot of motivation to play a game, but that was a little extra motivation, and I think you can see it in our play. We were so intense from the start and we never let our foot off the gas.”
Small, on managing the season schedule: “It’s a long season and we play each team five times, so you can’t look too far into the future. Every game is different. Starting off with game one, then moving into game two at home, I think that’s our next focus. And we’re only going to focus on that until we move on.”
Sarah Stratigakis, on her second season with AFC Toronto: “I think it's a really special group. You can see from how we play, how we move the ball really well, yeah, I think it's just the chemistry we have. And we're going to keep going the same forward.”