Kaylee Hunter scored a brace on Saturday afternoon as AFC Toronto opened its playoff campaign with a 4-2 victory over Ottawa Rapid FC at York Lions Stadium. April Lantaigne and Lena Silano had the other goals for the club. Toronto now leads by two goals on aggregate entering the return leg of the semifinal, scheduled to take place next Saturday in Ottawa.

Early in the match, Kaylee Hunter took control of a ball inside the penalty box and fed it to the top of the six-yard box, where April Lantaigne ran in and finished it for her first professional goal. Shortly after, goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo found Hunter with a long ball, and the 18-year-old striker made no mistake in burying Toronto’s second of the game. In the 30th minute, D’Angelo denied a penalty shot from D.B. Pridham to maintain Toronto’s two-goal lead.

In the second half, Lena Silano collected a rebound from an initial attempt by Hunter and buried it to extend Toronto’s lead. Minutes later, Ottawa got one back off the foot of Choo Hyojoo. Later in the half, Kaylee Hunter completed the brace, burying a pass from Lena Silano. Nearing injury time, Keera Melenhorst added another for Rapid FC.

“It’s only the first half of this (semifinal),” said head coach Marko Milanović. “We have to forget about this game as quickly as possible and prepare for the next one. We’re obviously happy with our performance. First half was outstanding, probably one of the best halves we played all year. Second half was good as well. I thought we maybe could have finished a few more chances and the goal at the end was probably avoidable. But it’s something that we’re going to definitely look at this week and clean up for next week.”

Kaylee Hunter on her brace: “It’s an amazing feeling, but I think all of it came from the team. Marko said it, first half, we were amazing. We were getting our foot on every ball, winning every fifty-fifty, and we were just getting at them. So yeah, we need to build off this momentum that we built and go into next week at 0-0. Same momentum and just bring another good game.”

Sabrina D’Angelo: “I think our press was outstanding, putting them under pressure and forcing mistakes and then capitalising when we needed to. So yeah, really happy with the team.”

Player Notes: April Lantaigne scored her first professional goal on Saturday to open the scoring. Kaylee Hunter scored two goals and added an assist. Lena Silano contributed a goal and an assist. Sabrina D’Angelo made three saves in the win and recorded her first NSL assist.

Scoring Summary: AFC Toronto — A. Lantaigne (11′), K. Hunter (25′, 66′), L. Silano (54′). Ottawa Rapid FC — C. Hyojoo (58′), K. Melenhorst (90′).

Up Next: AFC Toronto travels to the nation’s capital to face Ottawa Rapid FC in the second leg of the semifinal at TD Place Stadium on Saturday, November 7. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET, available on CBC.

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