AFC Toronto holds a two-goal lead on aggregate in the Battle of Ontario entering the return leg next Saturday in Ottawa
Toronto, ON (October 31, 2026) – Kaylee Hunter scored a brace on Saturday afternoon as AFC Toronto opened its playoff campaign with a 4-2 victory over Ottawa Rapid FC at York Lions Stadium. April Lantaigne and Lena Silano had the other goals for the club. Toronto now leads by two goals on aggregate entering the return leg of the semifinal, scheduled to take place next Saturday in Ottawa.
Early in the match, Kaylee Hunter took control of a ball inside the penalty box and fed it to the top of the six-yard box, where April Lantaigne ran in and finished it for her first professional goal. Shortly after, goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo found Hunter with a long ball, and the 18-year-old striker made no mistake in burying Toronto’s second of the game. In the 30th minute, D’Angelo denied a penalty shot from D.B. Pridham to maintain Toronto’s two-goal lead.
In the second half, Lena Silano collected a rebound from an initial attempt by Hunter and buried it to extend Toronto’s lead. Minutes later, Ottawa got one back off the foot of Choo Hyojoo. Later in the half, Kaylee Hunter completed the brace, burying a pass from Lena Silano. Nearing injury time, Keera Melenhorst added another for Rapid FC.
“It's only the first half of this (semifinal),” said head coach Marko Milanović. “We have to forget about this game as quickly as possible and prepare for the next one. We're obviously happy with our performance. First half was outstanding, probably one of the best halves we played all year. Second half was good as well. I thought we maybe could have finished a few more chances and the goal at the end was probably avoidable. But it’s something that we're going to definitely look at this week and clean up for next week.”
Kaylee Hunter on her brace: “It's an amazing feeling, but I think all of it came from the team. Marko said it, first half, we were amazing. We were getting our foot on every ball, winning every fifty-fifty, and we were just getting at them. So yeah, we need to build off this momentum that we built and go into next week at 0-0. Same momentum and just bring another good game.”
Next weekend, AFC Toronto travels to the nation’s capital to face Ottawa Rapid FC in the second leg of the semifinal. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, November 7 at 2 p.m. ET at TD Place Stadium.
APRIL LANTAIGNE: April Lantaigne scored her first professional goal on Saturday to open the scoring.
KAYLEE HUNTER: Kaylee Hunter scored two goals and added an assist on Saturday.
LENA SILANO: Lena Silano contributed a goal and an assist on Saturday.
SABRINA D’ANGELO: Sabrina D’Angelo made three saves in the win and recorded her first NSL assist.
UP NEXT: AFC Toronto faces Ottawa Rapid FC in the second leg of the semifinal at TD Place Stadium on Saturday, November 7 at 2 p.m. ET (Available on CBC).
MATCH SUMMARY
AFC Toronto - 4 | Ottawa Rapid FC - 2
Venue: York Lions Stadium
Referee: Scott Bowman
Assistants: Félix Côté-Leclerc, Shukwia Tajik
Fourth Official: Sheila Couture
Referee Observer: Gord Arrowsmith
SCORING SUMMARY
AFC Toronto: A. Lantaigne (11’), K. Hunter (25’, 66’), L. Silano (54’)
Ottawa Rapid FC: C. Hyojoo (58’), K. Melenhorst (90’)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
12’ - Yellow: Zoe Hasenauer (AFC Toronto)
19’ - Yellow: Melanie Forbes (Ottawa Rapid FC)
47’ - Yellow: Keera Melenhorst (Ottawa Rapid FC)
62’ - Yellow: April Lantaigne (AFC Toronto)
88’ - Yellow: Kayla Adamek (Ottawa Rapid FC)
STARTING LINEUP & STATS
AFC Toronto Starting Lineup:
GK Sabrina D’Angelo (Welland, ON)
DF Colby Barnett (USA)
DF Sarah Rollins (Toronto, ON)
DF Shelina Zadorsky (London, ON)
MF Olivia Chisholm (Toronto, ON)
MF Zoe Hasenauer (USA)
MF April Lantaigne (Ajax, ON)
MF Lauren Rowe (Conception Bay South, NL)
MF Nikayla Small (Pickering, ON)
FW Kaylee Hunter (Calgary, AB)
FW Lena Silano (USA)
Substitutes: Sierra Cota-Yarde (GK), Ashley Cathro (DF), Croix Soto (DF), Jasmine Vilgrain (DF), Zoe Burns (MF), Nyota Katembo (MF), Cloey Uddenberg (MF), Mia Fontana (FW), Kaila Novak (FW)
Total Shots: 22
Shots on Goal: 11
Fouls: 8
Offsides: 3
Corner Kicks: 2
Saves: 3
Video Highlights
Media can access video highlights from the match on the Northern Super League YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@NorthernSuperLeague
Photo Highlights
Media can access photo highlights from the match here.
Match Summary
A complete summary of the match facts and stats can be viewed at: www.afctoronto.ca/games/2026-10-31-nsl-playoffs
More from the locker room:
Sabrina D’Angelo, on the result: “Happy that we got the win. Little frustrated with two goals against, but that's football. I think the team did really, really well front to back. I think our press was outstanding, putting them under pressure and forcing mistakes and then capitalising when we needed to. So yeah, really happy with the team.”
Milanović, on being named 2026 NSL Coach of the Year earlier this week: “It's definitely an honour because it's voted by your peers in the league and your colleagues. So it means a lot. But to be honest with you, this win means much more. And everything that we can do as a team collectively means much more than any individual award.”
D’Angelo: “I think it's looking at where we can fix certain things from this game and continue to improve for next game. I think we all know football, a two nil lead is a scary lead. So I think we need to go in with the same fight that we had for this game next game.”
Milanović, on April Lantaigne’s first pro goal: “I'm really happy for her. There was a stretch in the season where she didn't play at all, but she continued to work hard. She's one of the most liked people in the club, phenomenal attitude. And it's not easy not playing, especially when you have quality, but maybe there's just someone in front of you that's maybe a little bit ahead at that time, but it's hard for players to accept that. And she's been incredible and continued to work hard, continued to support her teammates, and always added to the environment with her attitude and energy. And this is now her reward. She's been great since she came in the lineup and we're all so happy to see her score.”
Milanović, on Ottawa’s late goal: “Frustrating. I thought we deserved to win by more goals than we did, looking at all the chances that happened throughout the game on both sides. But at the same time, maybe it keeps us sharper this week in training. We're going to go to Ottawa with the exact same mentality we had today and try to win that game as well.”