AFC Toronto falls 2-1 to Montreal Roses FC
Victoria Pickett scored her first Northern Super League goal as Toronto lost their first game in six contests
Toronto, ON (July 18, 2025) – AFC Toronto’s (8-4-1) five-game winning streak came to an end Friday night, as they fell 2-1 to Montreal Roses FC (6-3-3). Toronto’s sole marker came from Victoria Pickett, who picked up her first Northern Super League goal.
Pickett found the back of the net late in the second to cut Montreal’s lead in half. The 28-year-old worked the ball from half and took a powerful strike from distance, beating Roses FC goalkeeper Anna Karpenko top corner. Pickett had Toronto’s only shot on net and completed two tackles in the match.
Montreal first opened the scoring midway through the first half with a close-range shot from Latifah Adbu. The Roses then took a 2-0 lead in the second half with a strike outside the box from Mégane Sauvé.
Head Coach Marko Milanović on the home crowd’s energy: “Our crowd was incredible as usual, and even after losses we feel the love and support. We can’t stress how important that is for us. We were a little fatigued obviously, but they carried us that entire second half. We felt their energy.”
Nikayla Small on Pickett’s goal: “Definitely gave us momentum, we heard the crowd. It was also Victoria’s first goal, so we were stoked for her. Under the circumstances, we couldn’t really celebrate too long. But yeah, her putting that back in a crucial moment, from very far back too, it made us very happy and gave us confidence.”
Next, AFC Toronto heads west to play Vancouver Rise FC at Swangard Stadium on Thursday, July 24th at 10 pm ET, the start of a four-game road trip.
EXPERT SHOOTER: With four shots in the match, Kaylee Hunter is now one behind Delaney Pridham’s league-leading total of 29.
IRON WOMEN: Colby Barnett and Emma Regan continue to lead the league in minutes played with 1170 each, playing through all of AFC Toronto’s matches so far.
SUPER SAVER: With her three saves, Toronto goalkeeper Sofia Manner improves to second in the league in total saves with 26.
HOLDING ON: Despite the loss, AFC Toronto still sits atop the NSL table, with a four-point lead over the second place Montreal Roses FC.
UP NEXT: AFC Toronto visit Vancouver Rise FC on Thursday, July 24th at 10 pm ET (Stream on TSN+ and NSL.ca; US Streaming on ESPN+).
MATCH SUMMARY
AFC Toronto - 1 Montreal Roses FC - 2
Venue: York Lions Stadium
Referee: Marie-Soleil Beaudoin
Assistants: Gabrielle Lemieux, Amanda Kwan Fourth Official: Angelina Baldino
Referee Observer: Amato De Luca Attendance: 2,873
SCORING SUMMARY
AFC Toronto: Victoria Pickett (77’)
Montreal Roses FC: Latifah Abdu (30’), Mégane Sauvé (68’)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
37’ - Yellow: Lara Schenk (Montreal Roses FC) 62’ - Yellow: Mégane Sauvé (Montreal Roses FC)
STARTING LINEUP & STATS
AFC Toronto Starting Lineup:
GK Sofia Manner (Finland)
DF Croix Soto (USA)
DF Kaela Hansen (Burnaby, BC) DF Ashley Cathro (Victoria, BC) MF Nikayla Small (Pickering, ON) MF Emma Regan (Burnaby, BC)
MF Colby Barnett (USA)
MF Victoria Pickett (Barrie, ON) MF Nyota Katembo (Tanzania) FW Kaylee Hunter (Calgary, AB) FW Lauren Rowe (St. John’s, NL)
Substitutes: Sierra Cota-Yarde (GK), Olivia Busby (GK), Hong Hye-ji (DF), Sarah Rollins (DF), April Lantaigne (MF), Cloey Uddenberg (MF), Aoi Kizaki (MF), Jade Kovacevic (FW), Melisa Kekic (FW)
Total Shots: 11 Shots on Goal: 1 Fouls: 7 Offsides: 3 Corner-Kicks: 3 Saves: 3
Video Highlights of Opening Game
Media can access video highlights from the opening 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/toronto-montreal-2025-07-18
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Milanović on Player of the Match Colby Barnett: “On-field, best left back in the league hands down. It’s not even a question, the stats support that. Off the field, we love being around her. She’s just a special character, amazing personality, just a pleasure to be around.”
Colby Barnett on signing her contract extension: “It’s a huge honour. There’s no words really to explain it. I feel so honoured that they have the trust in me to be signing me for an extension. Also having the fans supporting me, that goes into consideration when they’re creating these contracts, seeing how I work with the team. So every day I just want to put my best foot forward for this team, day in and day out. Whether it’s practice, off days, in-game. And hopefully I can do that throughout the next two seasons and a half.
Milanović on Toronto’s five-game winning streak coming to an end: “We gotta start a new one now.”
Milanović on Olivia Smith’s world record transfer fee: “We want the best young Canadians to play here with us, because they will be given opportunities to play and they will be given opportunities to develop. So that’s one of our biggest goals, it’s not just winning games, but developing players that can really impact on the world stage.”