July 4, 2026
Evelyn Badu and the Roses beat up on the Vancouver Rise
The Montreal Roses extracted a little revenge against the Vancouver Rise this afternoon, latgely off the boots of Evelyn Badu, and got themselves back in the winning column once again. The Vancouver Rise came to Stade Boreale in Laval on May 30th, and became the first team this season to defeat the Roses, edging out a narrow three to two win. But today would be a much different tale.
Since then, The Roses were winless, earning two draws against Toronto and last placed Calgary, and lost their last game to Ottawa as well – but tonight, the Roses burst open the flood gates and swamped the Vancouver Rise with five goals much to the delight of the Stade Boreale faithful.
See Also: Montreal Roses handed first loss by the Vancouver Rise
The slide has set them back a touch, as they now trail the Ottawa Rapid by seven points for first place. However, there is a silver lining, as the gap between the Roses and third place Vancouver, after this afternoon’s thrashing, is at five points. Still, the season is far from over but Ottawa and Montreal appear to be pulling away from the pack.
This afternoon though, was the Evelyn Badu show. The mighty Ghanaian midfielder was in peek form. As has been her forte this season, Badu again used her impressive strength to overpower her opponents and earn chances. That was the case once again on her first goal, just eighteen minutes into the match. Noamie Paquin lobbed a high ball into the box, that bounced before Badu got her head on it, bringing it down before overpowering the Rise defender and and earning herself a chip shot on goal, which she used to beat a bewildered Kirstin Tynan, leaving the Vancouver goalkeeper no chance at getting to the ball.
Jessica De Filippo, like the last time these two sides met, was a thorn in the sides of the Roses once again. Just minutes before halftime, Anna Karpenko, the Montreal goalkeeper, played the ball to her defender, Lucy Cappadona who fumbled the pass and wound up losing the ball to former Rose Latifah Abdu. The ball trickled to De Flippo who smashed it beyond Karpenko, tying the game. A complete defensive blunder.
The second half was all Montreal, as the Roses came out determined to take control of the match.
In the 53rd minute, Elyse Bennett would put the Montreal Roses ahead off of a coast to coast dump and chase play, where Cappadona identified an opening deep down the field, and played a long ball for Bennett to chase, and she did so practically uncontested as she dashed in and slipped a low cross-box shoot into the far corner, again leaving Tynan no chance at getting to the shot.
Minutes later, a fairly innocent looking play lead to what looked to be a left knee injury to De Fillpo, who tested the knee with a few trots up and down the sideline before submitting to the injuring and coming off for substitute Mariah Lee. An unfortunate turn of events as De Flippo has had Montreal’s number of late.
On to the 67th minute, where Badu struck again, on yet another strong and overpowering play. Something that is rapidly becoming Badu’s signature in the Northern Super League. Charlotte Bilbault put a pass into the feet of Badu, who flipped the ball, spun and absolutely belted into the top of the goal. Another cracking goal from the young Ghanaian midfielder.
Still reeling from having conceded that third goal, came a fourth just three minutes later. Bennett played a short pass to Hailey Whitaker, who struck a superb cross into the far side of the box, for Tanya Boychuk who caught the ball in the air and smashed it into the net. The Roses weren’t just scoring in bunches, they were scoring beautiful goals.
Badu capped off the scoring in the 53rd minute, earning her third marker of the match. Whitaker again sent a nice cross into the box, finding Boychuk whose shot was partially blocked but the ball fell to Badu who had an easy tap in.
Badu’s hattrick is just the third in Northern Super League history. Not one but two sixteen year old’s earned their debuts late on this match. Melyna Alexis for the Roses, who becomes the second youngest player to play in the Northen Super League, and Myla Ewasiuk for the Vancouver Rise.
Read More:
>> Late Cavalry goal sinks FC Supra in Laval
>> CF Montreal and Portland Timbers draw at Stade Saputo
>> Orlando City sunk by pair of late CF Montreal goals
Should the season end today, the Montreal Roses and Vancouver Rise would meet in the first round of the playoffs, which should bolster Montreal’s confidence, while leaving the Rise with a few doubts – although they did squeeze out a late win at Stade Boreale just a few weeks ago. Either way, it’s probably too early to be thinking about the playoff yet. Although, it would take a minor miracle for the Calgary Wild to drag themselves back into the picture, having yet to earn a win this season.
The Montreal Roses will return to action on July 12th, when they host the Halifax Tides at Stade Boreale. Vancouver, meanwhile will visit Alberta for a match against the Calgary Wild on July 11th.
