Melenhorst paces Rapid to 5-2 NSL win over Wild

OTTAWA – Keera Melenhorst scored twice in the first half and the Ottawa Rapid rallied from an early 2-1 deficit to beat the visiting Calgary Wild 5-2 in Northern Super League action on Saturday.

Melanie Forbes, Florence Belzile and Choo Hyo-Joo also scored for the Rapid, who evened their record to 1-and-1 after a season-opening 3-1 loss to the Halifax Tides at Wanderers Grounds.

Meggie Dougherty Howard and Taegan Stewart scored for the winless Wild, who slipped to 0-and-2 following a season-opening 2-0 loss against the visiting Montreal Rose. The Wild held a 2-1 led over the Rapid 12 minutes into the match, but trailed 4-2 by halftime.

Ottawa controlled ball possession (59 per cent to 42 per cent) at TD Place Stadium, but were outshot 13-12 (8-6 on target) by the visitors. Both team had three corners and Ottawa picked up the only yellow card of the match.

Ottawa will host the Vancouver Rise on Wednesday, while the Wild will host the Montreal Roses on Saturday, May 16.

Elsewhere in the NSL on Saturday:

ROSES 4 RISE 0

Tanya Boychuk scored just before the first half ended, and added her second goal just as the second half started and the Montreal Roses defeated the visiting Vancouver Rise 4-0 at Stade Boreale.

Elyse Bennett and Noemi Paquin also scored, while Anna Karpenko recorded the clean sheet for the Roses, who improved to 2-and-0 with back-to-back shutout wins. Vancouver slipped to 0-and-2.

Vancouver had more ball possession (56 per cent to 44) in the match, but were outshot 16-7 (7-1 on target shots). Montreal had three corners to Vancouver’s one, and the Rise received the only yellow card of the match.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2026.