Historic NSL defeat: Halifax Tides squander opportunity, dismantled 6-0 versus Vancouver Rise
There is no silver lining, no statistic or sequence to apply as a salve against the burning, honest truth: the Halifax Tides had an opportunity on Saturday to climb up the table with a win but were humiliated 6-0 by the Vancouver Rise FC, the very club they hoped to leapfrog.
And the Tides were never in control as the Rise — despite flying across the country — looked the more energetic side from the first whistle, pumping six goals past Halifax goalkeeper Anika Tóth with impunity. The result was never in doubt.
To make matters worse, the Tides were dismantled at the Wanderers Grounds in front of their supporters, who had a front row seat to the worst defeat in the Northern Super League's young history. The six conceded goals also stand as a record since professional football returned to Nova Scotia in 2018.
Interim head coach Stephen Hart was frank in his assessment post-match, beginning with the recognition that Tides supporters deserved more.
"I think, first off, we owe the fans an apology. They supported us right through and that was commendable," he said.
"Today, so many things were going wrong. We didn't pass the ball well and when we did pass the ball well, we couldn't keep it and then I think we lost every 50-50 battle, even second ball battles. We just weren't strong enough, we weren't physical enough and all credit to them. They deserved the win."
The Tides, of course, are in one of their busiest stretches of the season. Hart previously noted there wasn't a lot of time to train following his appointment on June 30 as the club is amidst a run of four matches in 12 days. He said he felt fatigue played a part in his squad's energy levels but, interestingly, made only two changes to his starting XI from Tuesday's 1-0 loss to AFC Toronto.
Josh Healey
What's more is that the Tides had some momentum going into Saturday's match as they'd won three of their last five and seemed poised to potentially climb out of last place for the first time this season. The Rise had no wins in their last five matches, spinning their tires after a strong start, with only two points separating the clubs before kickoff.
But there was a world of difference between them on the pitch as Halifax's backline — featuring Éva Frémaux, Sarah Olai, Annika Leslie and Kiley Norkus — showed too much deference to Vancouver's attackers. Holly Ward scored only minutes into the match as the Tides' defenders refused to step up and challenge her until she unleashed on goal. Later, Frémaux lost her mark and allowed a ball to slip to Jasmyne Spencer, who beat Tóth with a low shot.
Hart attempted to stop the bleeding by making a triple substitution but the massacre continued as Ward scored only seconds into the second half.
The simplest things went wrong as Sarah Taylor, who was brought in at halftime to shore up the midfield, accidently drove a pass into the back of her teammate on a give and go. The ball cannoned back towards Taylor but was scooped up by Vancouver, who played it to Mariah Lee, who made no mistake to score the sixth goal of the evening.
"I think, you know, it's a matter of, almost, a perfect storm. We wanted to survive these four games in what, twelve days, or thirteen days or whatever it is, and it caught up with us tonight," explained Hart.
"Some of our leaders, so to speak, were extremely tired. You could see their performance that way. Most of what we have been doing is recovery work, recovery work, trying to regenerate.
"I believe in them. I think they can do it. This is a one-off situation that happens, I believe, but we have to bounce back. The challenge now is who is ready for that challenge."
The Tides don't have long to process their defeat as they travel to Ontario to face Ottawa Rapid FC on Friday. It'll be interesting which players Hart taps given the heavy workload of starters like Sydney Kennedy, Norkus and Frémaux.
The good news is reinforcements — in the form of Tiffany Cameron and Amanda Allen — should be available to bolster the Tides' attack. They currently sit last in the league with nine goals scored.
Speaking post-match, Kennedy said there's no excuses.
"I don't think (this loss) is a reflection of us by any means, I don't think it's a reflection of Stephen and the work he's put in or the rest of the staff, the work they've put in. There's really no excuse for showing up the way we did and like Stephen said, we owe a big apology to the fans," she said.
"I know I speak for myself and everyone in there, we're going to be doing everything in our power to make sure that performance never happens again."
Cover Photo Credit: Vancouver Rise FC
