August 29, 2026
The Montreal Roses set a Northern Super League attendance record in win over Halifax Tides
Today was a day that surely was marked on calendars of Northern Super League fans from coast to coast, as the Montreal Roses hosted the Halifax Tide at Stade Saputo, in a bid to set a league-wide attendance record.
The stadium which is the current home of CF Montreal, an MLS side, has a capacity of twenty-thousand spectators, as this afternoon held 17 077 fans, meaning that yes, the Montreal Roses now own the league attendance record. Something that the club announced two days prior to kick off, with a celebratory price drop on tickets, in hopes of adding to the new record. That move brought in a further three thousand spectators, as Stade Saputo filled up.
See Also: Montreal Roses have a chance at history this August
Montreal already holds two other women’s sports attendance record – one for hockey, filling the Bell Center, the home of the Montreal Canadiens, and the other in the WNBA despite Montreal not even having a franchise in the league. That record was set when the Toronto Tempo played two games earlier this, against the New York Liberty and Dallas Wings.
This match also marks the first time that the Montreal Roses actually played in Montreal, instead of the neighboring island of Laval.
The Halifax Tides defensive strategy early on, seemed to be to make hard tackles on the Roses players in front of their record attendance crowd, and referee — seemed more than happy to allow the girls to play each other hard. However, Montreal seemed unbothered by these tactics, and as the match wore on, they were hold more and more ball possession and earning themselves better and better chances.
Just passed the half hour of the first half, Roses striker Tanya Boychuk was blatantly fouled by Tides defender Shayenne Allen but was ruled by the referee to have occurred just outside of the box, resulting in a free kick an inch outside the box line, and this earned to chagrin of the record attendance that all thought a penalty should have been awarded. Marie-Yasmine Alidou stepped up to take the free kick, first stricking the Tides wall, then hitting the rebound out to the left of the goal.
Minutes later, Halifax had their best chance of the half off the boot of Downing, who used some fancy footwork to outmaneuver and foul Roses defender Lucy Cappadona not once, but twice as her pigtails bounced about the ribbon in her hair, clearing space enough for a low hard shot attempt at the far post, but Roses goalkeeper Anna Karpenko was up for the challenge, and caught enough of the ball to bat it safely to her defender who then cleared the danger.
The Tides enjoyed their best moments of the match in the opening ten minutes of the second half, but that was all about to come crashing down.
In the 68th minute, Sheyenne Allen earned her second yellow card of the game, both within quick succession, and was sent off leaving the Halifax Tides to play with ten players. It would prove to be the turning point of the match, as the Roses now completely dominated ball possession and had the Tides pinned deep in their own half.
Eight minutes later, Montreal took the lead when Anne-Valérie Seto headed in a Marie-Yasmine Alidou cross from a corner to give the hometown Roses their first ever lead on Montreal soil, and in front of a league-wide record attendance too. Seto’s name is now forever enshrined in the Roses history books.
Down to ten players, the Tides tried to push into Roses territory in a hunt for the equalizing tally, but couldn’t break through and gave up possession to Montreal that lead to several breaks that the Roses couldn’t capitalize on. Seto’s marker would prove to be the only goal of the match, as the Roses leapfrog the Ottawa Rapid for first place in the league while Halifax remain two points behind the Vancouver Rise for the final playoff birth.
Read More:
>> Tia Schaffer heads Simcoe County Rovers over Roses
>> Benati goal puts Halifax Tides over Montreal Roses in Laval
>> Turgeman earns ire of Montreal as they draw New England Revolution
This afternoon’s win not only puts the Roses at the top of the Northern Super League table, it is also a win for women’s sports the world over. It shows there is an audience and that if you play matches at prestigious stadiums such as Stade Saputo, people will come out to watch. There is a great deal to take away from here, and all of it is positive. For the Roses, for the league, the game and women’s sports.
The Montreal Roses will next travel to our nations capital for an important match against the table topping Ottawa Rapid with the league lead on the line. That match takes place on September 6th at TD Place. The Halifax Tide will next face Vancouver Rise at Swangard Stadium in another match with heavy table implications.
