The Wild FC fought a hard fight, at times both physically and mentally at McMahon Stadium, in an attempt to tie up what would eventually become the team’s first loss on home turf.

Battling AFC Toronto, the Wild FC, suffered a pair of goals in the first half of the match from Toronto’s Nikayla Small, before picking up the pace in the second half for the first ever Northern Super League goal by Danielle Steer.

Head Coach Lydia Bedford called the game a frustrating one, having to play catch up against an adversary that began with a two-goal lead early on.

“I think when you face adversity really early on in the game and have to make a change within nine minutes, it always affects the flow of what you’ve prepared as a group,” Bedford said.

“I think that the decision that I made in that moment and the change that we made maybe didn’t help us to have the confidence required to go out and continue to work on what we’d set out to do.”

She said that it was the first time in the season she was direct with the team about the changes that had to be made during the game, and that the response by Steer eight minutes in the second was proof that the Wild were prepared to regain control.

A hard push in the final minutes of the game against Toronto led to several opportunities to score.

But the solitary goal by Steer was nevertheless a special one, as it was in front of her dad, who flew in from Vancouver as part of the Dads and Grads game.

“He’s always been my biggest supporter, so I just know he’s in the crowd texting all his friends, just letting everyone know,” Steer said.

“I think it’s really solidified my confidence in my position. I know on games where even if I’ve played well and haven’t scored, I feel like there is work left to do on the field. Getting that goal really boosts my confidence and allows me to move forward and move up.”

Battles led to more injuries on the pitch

The physicality of the match saw several of the Wild FC players leave the pitch injured, but as Steele said, reinforced the image that the Wild wanted McMahon Stadiumn to be a hard place to play.

As part of the psychological side of the matchup, players previously injured sat on the bench in jerseys, in an attempt to give the impression that the team had more to give, said Bedford.

“You even saw Steph Bukovec in an outfield kit ready to go on if required in the second half. How many people noticed that? But, you know, that was an option that we had.”

Bukovec being one of the Wild’s goalkeepers, who has played 630 minutes this season.

“Obviously, as a coach, you don’t really know until players get assessed. We’ll wait for Tilly [James’] assessment. Mike [Roelfsema] is currently under assessment. Sarah [Keilty-Dilling] is under assessment. So we’ve got a number, and I just don’t think you can worry too much until you know the outcome,” said Bedford.

“This group is resilient, and I think we showed today that if I make the right decision around who goes on, where we’ve got players that can play in multiple positions, we just need to pick the best group at any given moment.”

Bedford said that the team would address injuries through the upcoming July transfer window and that recruitment had already begun for the summer.

“I think any recruitment we do now is much easier than we did in January, because these women were the brave ones that stepped out and said ‘we’ll take a gamble on what happens,’ and lots of our staff have done the same. But now any player looking at this league can see that you have to be at your best in every game.”

She said the comparison was like international players at the top of their game facing the best opponents over and over.

“There’s not one team getting whooped on a week-by-week basis. I think Halifax showed against us nine days ago that they can score goals, and we knew that going into the game that no one will ever take Halifax lightly, because week after week after week, their players haven’t given up.”

“They’ve shown resilience, they’ve created opportunities, and obviously they scored two against us. I was their biggest fan on think it was Tuesday or Wednesday night when they managed to get their first win. I hope they obviously lose in two games’ time [against the Wild], but if they could win again on the weekend, that would be brilliant against Toronto,” Bedford said.

Bedford said that the games are so close and so hard fought is good for both the league and the fans.

“Every game is tight, and every game could probably go either way most of the time in this league. So, it’s really about just making sure that you’re got your ‘A’ game ready to go every time. I think that’s great as a coach. It excites me,” she said.

“It’s boring to play teams where you know it’s going to be a walkover.”