When the numbers lie: Rise outplay Ottawa but fall 3-0

Sometimes the numbers don’t tell the story. On Sept. 20, Vancouver Rise closed their final home match of the regular season with 64-per-cent possession, 19 shots, and 11 corners. By every metric, they dictated the tempo and carried the play. 

And yet the scoreboard read 3-0 for Ottawa Rapid. Brutal on paper, but anyone at Swangard Stadium knows this was a game where Rise imposed themselves — and somehow still walked away empty-handed.

The tone was set inside the first few minutes. Latifah Abdu, who seemed determined to score by sheer force of will, curled an effort toward the top corner that forced Ottawa keeper Melissa Dagenais into a fingertip save.

Quinn had the crowd leaning forward when they spun in midfield and unleashed a shot that whistled over the bar. Yuka Okamoto nearly opened her account for the season after a clever sequence of passing, only to see her effort trickle wide. Chance after chance, Rise looked ready to crack the match open. But against the run of play, Ottawa drew first blood.

One thing that made the early goal sting all the more was who wasn’t on the pitch. Jessica De Filippo, so often the spark in the final third, was serving a suspension after picking up a second yellow in the previous outing against AFC Toronto. Her absence was obvious. De Filippo has that rare knack for arriving in the right pocket of space at exactly the right time, the instincts and composure to turn half chances into goals. Without her, Rise had the buildup play but lacked the final cut. When you don’t land the punch, holding off pressure becomes harder.

That dynamic defined the afternoon: Rise on the front foot, Ottawa punishing their moments. Abdu was relentless, firing from everywhere. Nikki Stanton came crashing in with a diving header that looked destined for the corner, only for Dagenais to smother it like she had magnets in her gloves. Holly Ward nearly squeezed one in from a ridiculous angle, and late in the second half, Lisa Pechersky drove straight through midfield, ripping a shot that Dagenais again kept out.

It wasn’t just volume — it was intent. Rise weren’t playing timid football. They carried the ball, they pressed, they created. But finishing was the missing ingredient, and Ottawa, opportunistic and efficient, built their lead methodically until it was out of reach.

After the match, head coach Anja Heiner-Møller spoke with a mix of frustration and perspective.

“We’re disappointed. I don’t think the result today showed the game,” Heiner-Møller said. “We did produce chances, we just need to be sharper on our end, scoring on our chances but also being cleaner in our own half, when they don’t actually have that much.”

It’s hard to disagree. From the stands and from the stat sheet, Rise looked like the better team. But soccer doesn’t hand out points for aesthetics. Sometimes you can do almost everything right and still leave with nothing.

That’s where perspective matters. What a 3-0 loss conceals is the fight on the pitch. Rise didn’t sulk, didn’t switch off, didn’t let frustration unravel them. They pressed until the final whistle. Abdu kept driving shots. Captain Samantha Chang was still buzzing through midfield, demanding the ball and setting tempo. Pechersky carried the ball into dangerous areas as if Ottawa’s lead didn’t exist. There’s something in that kind of persistence that matters more than the final scoreline.

So the table and stats reset and all that carries forward is confidence and chemistry. The final road swing is less about records and more about sharpening edges before playoffs.

Yes, the match was frustrating and the goals dried up at the worst possible time, but if you watched closely, you saw a Rise side still growing, still building toward something bigger.

A team with the skill, the grit, and the stubborn belief that the next time those chances come, they’ll be dangerous.