When asked about the Wild FC’s win that continued the undefeated streak in front of home crowds at McMahon Stadium, the response from head coach Lydia Bedford was “brilliant.”

The 3-2 victory by the Wild FC on June 5, over the Halifax Tides, moved the team into the first place position in the Northern Super League, ahead of rivals the Montreal Roses and the Vancouver Rise.

“I said it to the players before the game, being undefeated at home is a big thing for us. I think we were so disappointed with our first turnout at home against Ottawa, and since then, we’ve really just spoken about the energy, intent we play with,” said Bedford.

“The first half showed that tonight, and yeah, we’ve obviously got things we can look out for in the second half, but the most important thing is three points.”

The Wild dominated the first half of the match with a trio of goals by Ally Green, Jenya Robertson, and Taegan Stewart, before a rebounded Tides surge in the later half of the second saw a pair of goals slip past.

“I said to the players at halftime, if they kept a clean sheet, they get the weekend off. So, they clearly love training a lot, and they wanted to come in over the weekend instead,” said Bedford.

“Last time we played Halifax, we put the game to bed pretty early in the first half that time through set of pieces, and then we let them get a little bit of momentum at the second half and it became a bit more back and forth. This one even more. Credit to them, because I keep saying this league’s competitive, and they’re a team that can take points of anyone on any day.”

Tides Head Coach Lewis Page said that second half momentum was more in line with who the Tides are as a team.

“I was very proud of the players for coming out. They could have easily folded the tent and just be thinking about getting on a plane and going back home, but they didn’t. They came out and gave everything they had in second half, and really happy with that,” he said.

“I mean, it’s always nice when we bang in a couple of goals. Keeps the fan base happy for sure, and I think they’d be equally as proud of the team as we are.”

Victory on the field, and at school for Wild FC twins

The win was marked by a pair of victories for a pair of twins playing for the Wild FC.

The Stewart sisters had a number of milestones during the match: the first goal by Taegan in the season, the first time that the sisters played on the pitch together, and the 17-year-old twins went from their Bishop Carroll High School graduation in the morning, to putting on cleats in the afternoon.

“An exciting day having graduated high school. Sitting in a church for a couple of hours before a game isn’t ideal, but we made it work. Our athletic trainer made sure we chugged electrolytes and water when we got here. But it was just exciting overall, and we finally got to share the field together for a little bit, which was really exciting,” said Taegan Stewart.

She said that her teammates had been bugging her about missing a couple of potential goals in the season, but the third time was the charm.

Keelyn Stewart said that success on the pitch has come as a bit of a shock to their classmates in high school.

“I honestly don’t think a lot of people at our school know what we do. When we say it’s a professional league, it’s just kind of funny. Some of their faces drop, a few people actually, mainly teachers—we saw a couple in the crowd today—they’ve just been so supportive this past couple months, getting us over the finish line,” Stewart said.

“Their support means everything. Even the kids are starting to recognize and end of the year now, but they’re starting to see that, yeah, we’re actually serious about soccer and and it’s just that was amazing day overall.”

The Wild FC next take on AFC Toronto on June 14, at McMahon Stadium.

Photos from the Wild FC versus Halifax Tides