August 7, 2026
Julia Benati goal puts Halifax Tides over Montreal Roses in Laval
Julia Benati was the sole player to find the back of the net Friday night, as the Halifax Tides earned a hard fought win over the Montreal Roses at Stade Boreale in Laval.
AFC Toronto’s strong form of late, has meant that they have drawn level with the Montreal Roses, tying them for second place in the league. While the Roses held a game in hand, this one that took place tonight where they hosted the Halifax Tide at Stade Boreale in Laval, Toronto’s hot streak has to be worrisome for Montreal.
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Halifax came into the match six points behind Montreal in the fourth and final play-off position, but are only two points ahead of Vancouver themselves, which means that the last stretch of games in the Northern Super League should be very interesting and hotly contested. The only certainty at this point, is that the Calgary Wild are out of contention already, having only earned two points this season through fourteen matches played.
Half an hour into the match, Roses striker Elyse Bennett had a chance to put her ahead when a penalty was awarded for an accidental handball inside the Tides box. Bennet stepped up to the spot, and attempted a panenka – a sneaky penalty kick technique where the shooter lightly chips the ball at goal, in an attempt to fool the goalkeeper who have the tendency to dive either left or right. Tides goalkeeper Anika Tóth was having none of it, and instead made the easy save, keeper the game level.
Moments later, Halifax rang a chipped shot from Benati off the crossbar and somehow the game remained even and nil-nil. Eight minutes later, the Tides hit the crossbar again. This time, it was Syd Kennedy who was on the cusp of opening the scoring. No dice.
A minute into extra time at the tail end of the first half, the Tides found a way beyond Roses goalkeeper Anna Karpenko. Stella Downing had made a nice unchallenged run from the halfway line and attempted to dance her way into the box and beyond the remaining Montreal defenders, Cappadona knocked the ball off of Downing’s boot but right into the path of Benati, who slotted the ball into the goal.
Just before the hour mark, Tanya Boychuk had a golden opportunity to pull the Roses level, when she accepted a cross and a fired a nice shot that was aimed at the cross face of the goal, but Tóth showed why she was the Northern Super League goalkeeper of the year last season, making an incredible save to keep the Tides ahead. Minutes earlier, Boychuk had missed another great chance, placing a header just wide of the post.
Downing again caused the Roses havoc in the 72nd minute, where her cross sailed in high on Karpenko, forcing the Roses goalkeeper to stretch out a hand and deflect the ball onto the crossbar for the third time on the night.
Benati would again add her name to the score sheet late in the match, this time earning a yellow card for tugging on the jersey of Chloe Minas. Time, however, would run out for the Roses, as they drop an important match to a Halifax team that could make life difficult for Montreal down the final stretch of the season.
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The Montreal Roses will visit AFC Toronto next, in NSL action, for an August 16th showdown that could have massive ramifications on the table, and second place on the line. The Halifax Tides find themselves in a similar situation, as their next match up takes them to British Columbia, where they will take on the Vancouver Rise with the final playoff spot to play for.
Next week’s Northern Super League fixtures are looking quite tasty indeed! Before that however, the Roses will host the Simcoe County Rovers FC in the quarter-finals of the inaugural W Canadian Championships.
