Photo credit: Jennifer Gauthier
Calgary Wild FC Game Day Notes
Vancouver Rise FC – April 16, 2025
A successful penalty kick by three-time Olympian, Quinn, was all the Vancouver Rise FC needed to top the Calgary Wild FC in the inaugural Northern Super League soccer match at BC Place on Thursday night.
The Vancouver midfielder converted a penalty kick in the 22nd minute, beating Stephanie Bukovec, the Wild FC goalkeeper’s, to her low left corner for the historic tally as the new six-team Canadian women’s professional soccer league kicked off its inaugural season.
“It is unfortunate to lose on a penalty kick, but as a goalkeeper, you have to forget about that and move on,” said Bukovec. “It is such a mental position. You can’t dwell too much on penalties because there is still the rest of the game.”
Bukovec, a 29-year-old goalkeeper from Toronto who returned to Canada to play professional soccer on home soil after spending the last six seasons tending the pipes on the other side of the pond in The Netherlands, Iceland, Croatia, Sweden and most recently in the Belgian Women’s Super League, was rock solid in the net for the remainder of the historic opener as the Rise controlled the play for the opening half.
Struggling to apply pressure on the Vancouver Rise FC, the scrappy Calgary team shook off the first-game jitters, made a couple of substitutions, and came out of halftime strong on the ball for the final 45 minutes.
“I was really pleased with the subs that we made and the impact that they had. The two of them (Jenaya Robertson and Serita Thurton) who came onto the pitch after halftime made an immediate impact on the second half. I think our depth showed today, so I was pretty pleased with how we did on the whole,” said head coach Lydia Bedford.
With Bukovec making two point-blank stops late in the game, the tenacious forwards on the Wild FC nearly scored an equalizer in the final 10 minutes of the hard-nosed match filled with tackles, one-on-one battles, and a handful of yellow cards – two on each side of the pitch.
Relentless on the pressure, forward Kahli Johnson booted the ball just high of the crossbar at the 74 minute mark. One minute later she broke down the left wing where she nearly set up one of Canada’s most dominant varsity footballers – the all-time Canada West career points record holder, Danielle Steer (Surrey, B.C.) – but the Vancouver keeper, Morgan McAslan, covered up the ball before the Calgary forward could chip it in.
The Wild FC came close again in the closing seconds of the match. Captain Meggie Dougherty Howard centred a corner kick to the front of the Rise net but the Vancouver keeper snagged the ball in the air.
“To only have lost the game by one penalty kick, you feel pretty hard done by towards the end with the number of chances we created, but it’s a long season. If that’s game one, game 25 is going to be super exciting,” added Bedford. “We will keep our processes going from here and get even better. Overall, tonight was a great example of how great this league is going to be. If that’s the style of game that fans will get to watch, then it’s going to be a heck of a lot of fun.”
Discipline
15’ – Yellow: Meikayla Moore (Wild FC)
23’ – Yellow: Jasmyne Spencer (Rise)
40’ – Yellow: Meggie Dougherty Howard (Wild FC)
87’ – Yellow: Nedya Sawan (Rise)
First Ever Calgary Wild FC Starting Lineup
GK Stephanie Bukovec (Toronto) DF Mijke Roelfsema (The Netherlands)
DF Grace Stordy (Calgary) FW Christie Gray (Vancouver)
DF Ally Green (New Zealand) FW Kahli Johnson (Australia)
DF Meikayla Moore (New Zealand) FW Sarah Griffith (United States)
MF Jackie Sawicki (Vancouver) MF Meggie Dougherty Howard (United States)
MF Sonia (Toronto)
Video Highlights of Opening Game
Media can access video highlights from the opening match on the Northern Super League YouTube Channel
Match Summary
Click here for a complete summary of the opening match facts and stats.
Additional Quotes from the Locker Room
Coach Lydia Bedford (Head Coach)
“I said to the players at the end that I was proud of how we came out in the second half. Early in the game, their press caused us a little bit of problems. It took us a little longer than we would have liked to solve our space on the pitch.”
“It was good aggressive English football. I thought we physically matched their size with our smaller players who are mighty. Taegan Stewart is 17 years old. She bullies someone off the ball and gets it back to us. That’s the mentality we are trying to build here.”
“I’m very pleased with the depth we showed that we have because that will be a weapon for us as the season goes on.”
Stephanie Bukovec (Goalkeeper)
“I’ve been waiting for this game for a while now and was happy I got the opportunity to play. It was a surreal experience playing on home soil. Obviously not the result that we wanted, but it was pretty amazing tonight to be a part of history.”
“I like the pressure. I thrive on it. I think the nerves settled down for us in the second half and we were a lot better once we got used to everything. It was an amazing experience to be here, and I was very fortunate that I got the opportunity to play.”
Did You Know
- Calgary Wild FC midfielder, Sonia, is one of two players in the league who are moms. A holder of three passports (Canada, Venezuela and Italy), the Torontonian marched onto the field holding the hand of an aspiring young footballer with her one-year-old daughter in her arms.
- The Vancouver Rise announced a total of 14,018 fans who attended the inaugural Northern Super League match at BC Place.
- The Wild Roses Supporters Group took over the Elephant & Castle pub in Calgary to catch the Calgary Wild FC’s historic inaugural match in the Northern Super League. The packed crowd rocked their red and purple while bringing the energy to the ‘Watch Party’ to cheer on the Wild FC as the club took on the Vancouver Rise.
Link to Game Day Photos
Media can access photos from the opening game of the Northern Super League here.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Gauthier
On the Radar
April 26 at Halifax Tides at 3 p.m. MDT (TSN/US Streaming ESPN+)
May 5 at AFC Toronto at 5 p.m. MDT (Streaming TSN+/US Streaming ESPN+)
May 11 vs Ottawa Rapid FC at 5 p.m. MDT (Streaming TSN+/US Streaming ESPN+)
2025 Northern Super League Schedule
About Calgary Wild FC
Calgary Wild FC is one off six teams in the newly created Northern Super League which will begin its inaugural season in 2025, featuring some of the best women’s soccer players in the world. Shop our exclusive merch and be one of the early #fansinthewild. For the latest news and information on Calgary Wild FC, visit www.calgarywildfc.com or follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and X. Follow the league at www.nsl.ca.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Chris Dornan
Calgary Wild FC
T: 403-620-8731
E-mail: hpprchris@shaw.ca