6 – Halifax Tides – 3-13-7
The Tides will end the season at the bottom of the table and likely the power rankings. An upcoming Week 26 match against Calgary Wild could shake that up. The Tides were unable to turn enough of their league-leading seven draws into wins to make a climb out of the bottom.
5 – Calgary Wild – 7-14-2
Calgary’s defensive situation hasn’t really improved through the season as they currently sit with the league’s worst goals allowed. An upcoming match with Halifax has little meaning
as both teams are cemented in their place in the standings, regardless of how the final two weeks of the regular season play out.
4 – Vancouver Rise – 9-7-6
The good news is that Vancouver has three matches left this season, which gives them the opportunity to climb both the standings and the power rankings before the regular season concludes. The bad news is that two of those matches come away from home against Ottawa and Montreal in Week 26, which could prove a challenging task. However, with each club only three points ahead of the Rise, wins could easily see them climb into second place to finish the season and avoid a first-round playoff matchup against AFC Toronto.
3 – Ottawa Rapid – 10-7-6
Delaney Pridham is likely to win the Golden Boot with her 18 goals on the season, leading Toronto’s Kaylee Hunter by four. The Rapid have two matches remaining, with a tough game left against Montreal Roses in the final week of regular-season play and a potential standing-changing match this week against Vancouver.
2 – Montreal Roses – 10-7-6
The best defensive team in the league currently sits in third place in the standings based on goal difference, with Ottawa being a significantly better team in the goalscoring department. While these two are very even, do goalscoring feats outmatch a top-class defense? It’s a tough battle to pick, made even harder with the two teams playing out to a 0-0 draw in their last matchup in Week 21.
1 – AFC Toronto – 15-6-3
Toronto has undoubtedly proven itself to be the premier NSL club in the inaugural season. While they have a similar goalscoring and goals allowed record compared to Ottawa Rapid, they’ve been able to churn out five more wins, giving them a significant 12-point gap at the top of the standings.
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The Golden Boot race is still led by Delaney Pridham (18 goals) and a three-way tie between Toronto’s Nikayla Small and Esther Okoronkwo, with Vancouver’s Quinn. Vancouver’s three remaining matches could provide an opportunity for Quinn to lay sole claim to that top spot, and Holly Ward is only one assist behind with five on the season as well.
