TORONTO — After 10 weeks of training, AFC Toronto should be well-drilled for its opening game in the Northern Super League. But coach Marko Milanovic knows some things cannot be recreated.
Like playing in front of 14,500-plus at BMO Field.
"I think it's impossible to prepare the players for the nerves that they'll be feeling. It's hard to replicate that in training," Milanovic said before AFC Toronto's training session in the rain Friday at the lakefront stadium. "You can only hope that they're going to use the crowd as a positive, turn those nerves into excitement and come out and show what they can do."
The good news is the crowd should be cheering for Milanovic's team rather than the opposition, the Montreal Roses FC.
"We're less about the nerves, more about the excitement," said Toronto captain Emma Regan, a Canadian international. "It's a home crowd. I think we're going to feed off of the energy from that. So we're really excited to start it off at home."
"I've learned to use those nerves and turn it into energy — controlling what we can control," added American forward Shaina Ashouri. "I think the whole team's behind that."
The six-team Northern Super League kicked off Wednesday with Vancouver Rise FC's 1-0 win over the visiting Calgary Wild before an announced crowd of 14,018 at B.C. Place Stadium.
"That's history in the making right there," said Ashouri.
"It was nice to see the quality of the league from the beginning and we hope we can build on that," added Regan, a native of Burnaby, B.C.
More than 14,500 fans are expected to be on hand Saturday, with the lower bowl sold out.
Both Vancouver and Toronto will be returning to smaller stages for future matches with Vancouver playing at Swangard Stadium in suburban Burnaby and Toronto at York Lions Stadium.
Another complication Saturday is one facing both teams. How do you prepare for an opponent you have never seen before?
"It's very hard. And if any of you have any information (about Montreal), we'd love to know about it," said Milanovic, prompting laughter. "Anyone from Quebec here?"
Toronto is dealing with some injuries, although Milanovic declined to provide details other than to say four or five players are unavailable. Two players, including veteran forward Jade Kovacevic, were wearing protective boots as they watched from the sideline Friday.
Regan said building a team from the ground up has made for good chemistry.
"I think everyone has bought in. No egos and people are there to make each other better, make this team better," she said. " I think the coaches did a really great job of bringing together a group of players that are able to play together but also get along off the field."
Regan also said the players have accepted the responsibility and taken ownership of helping build the league.
"I think it's really an opportunity more than anything. We get to write the story from the very beginning," she said. "We get to say how we want this to be. And I think we're going to start that very strongly (Saturday)."
Toronto stayed at home for training camp, playing a number of pre-season games against local competition, both men and women.
Montreal, coached by Robert Rositoiu, has named Canadian winger Mégane Sauvé and forward Tanya Boychuk co-captains.
Rositoiu coached AS Blainville to three trophies, including the League 1 Canada Inter-Provincial Championship. He previously coached youth sides with both CF Montreal and the Vancouver Whitecaps academy and served as a technical assistant with the Canadian under-17 men’s side.
All six NSL teams are in action next weekend with Calgary at Halifax Tides FC on Saturday and Toronto at Ottawa Rapid FC and Montreal at Vancouver on Sunday.
---
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
