VANCOUVER - Latifah Abdu scored twice in the first half to lead the Vancouver Rise to a 2-1 win over Ottawa Rapid FC in the first leg of a Northern Super League semifinal on Tuesday.

Ottawa's Delaney Pridham halved the deficit in the second half.

The semifinal's second leg is Saturday at Ottawa's TD Place.

The other semifinal features league-leading AFC Toronto and the Montreal Roses.

Toronto takes a 2-0 lead from the first leg of that series into Sunday's second match.

Aggregate winners of the semifinals advance to the single championship match Nov. 15 at Toronto's BMO Field, where the first NSL champion will be crowned.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2025.

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