Calgary Wild win ‘War of the Roses’ in 1-0 upset against Montréal

Jenaya Robertson’s 85th-minute goal brought the thousands of fans at McMahon Stadium roaring to their feet, lifting the Calgary Wild FC to a 1-0 upset win over the Montréal Roses in Northern Super League play Sunday.

Wide open in the centre of the box, Robertson found the back of the net after her shot banked off the right post, beating Roses goalkeeper Anna Karpenko to secure the Wild’s first home goal ever.

“It was a little nerve-racking for that split second, but thankfully it did go into the back of the net, so I was relieved, and I think the whole team was as well. It was pretty cool,” Robertson said in the post-game.

Her goal was one of only two shots on net for both teams and the only point of the afternoon in front of the 3,502-person crowd. They each controlled the game fairly evenly and claimed 10 shots apiece.

The loss brought the Roses’ unbeaten streak to an end.

“We had a strong start in the first 20 minutes, but Calgary caused us problems with their wide attacking structure, and we took too long to adjust. Our second half was better, but we lacked sharpness in the final third,” said Roses head coach, Robert Rositoiu.

The Wild had five corners compared to the Roses’ one, and the visitors had double the number of yellow cards (4-2).

The loss gave the Roses their only loss in five games, standing at three wins, a loss, and a draw (3-1-1), and snagging the win brought the Wild two wins, two losses, and a draw (2-2-1) in the six-team Canadian women’s pro soccer circuit.

The Roses head back home to host AFC Toronto on Thursday, while the Wild head to the West Coast to take on the Vancouver Rise in a rematch of the home opener on Saturday.

“Now it is about payback next Saturday in Vancouver. I’m excited to hit round two of games. Let’s go, we must keep pushing,” said Wild head coach Lydia Bedford.

Montréal remains at the top of the NSL standings, with Calgary in third place.

With files from The Canadian Press