CS Mont-Royal Outremont (CSMRO) is back at the League1 Canada Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship for a second year in a row, and although its roster looks very different from the one that finished as runners-up in 2024, this year’s team is no any less hungry to prove it can claim the national title.
Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic of OneSoccer spoke this week with CSMRO head coach Wilfried Monthe to talk about the team’s journey — reflecting on its growth throughout the season, the character of the group, and what this national opportunity means for his players.
Here’s what he had to say as CSMRO prepares to face the Calgary Blizzard, champions of League1 Alberta, in the second semi-final of the tournament. Kick-off is scheduled for Friday, August 8 at 10:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. MT.
On how the team feels ahead of the Inter-Provincial Championship:
It’s a lot of emotions. It’s not every day you qualify for the national championship, so when it happens, we’re definitely excited. There’s a bit of stress too — but it’s mostly positive stress. We can’t wait to get to Alberta and start playing, start competing.
On adapting after finishing second at last year’s tournament:
This year, the goal was to bring in some fresh blood. The team has changed quite a bit compared to last year, but our goals remain the same: to come here and try to do better than last year — which means winning the title. We know it won’t be easy, but we’ll do everything we can. We’re going to compete and give one hundred percent to go win it.
On whether the team’s style has changed under the new head coach:
When I took over the team, the idea was to bring in players who would immediately buy into my style of play. I’m a coach who’s very offensively-minded. So we play with a lot of offensive transitions at CSMRO — and you can see that in how many goals we’ve scored this season. But defensively too, I try to have a compact team. As you can also see, we haven’t conceded many goals. I think we maybe gave up eight goals all season. So yes, it’s definitely a more direct kind of football than last year. We focus less on possession, and more on trying to push the opponent and create scoring chances.
On how Ligue1 Québec prepared CSMRO to compete nationally:
We have an ultra-competitive league — our Ligue1 here in Québec. The level is pretty high, and I think the standings really showed that. We finished fourth overall, but we were just one point behind the second-place team. That shows you how tight and competitive it is. So when you survive our playoff season, you’re ready for anything.
On Calgary Blizzard having home-field advantage:
In our last two games of the season, we played away, because we finished fourth. We played against CF Montréal, at their place, with only their fans. And in the final against Laval, it was all Laval fans. So we’re kind of used to playing in hostile environments, where it’s not our home field. I’ve got players who are mature enough to handle that, and I think it’s actually extra motivation for them.
On expectations facing Calgary Blizzard:
They’re a really good team, very offensive. They score a lot of goals, they’re dynamic — and that works in our favour, because we like teams that play offensive football and want to put on a show. So I think it’s going to be a great match. The atmosphere too will be great.
Final thought:
It’s one match at a time — we’re really going to try and give everything on Friday, take Saturday off to recover, and we hope to be there Sunday at 3 p.m. for the final.
Tickets to the 2025 League1 Canada Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship can be purchased at Emerald Hills Stadium in Sherwood Park, Alta. on Friday, Aug. 8 and Sunday, Aug. 10 for $15.
All four matches will air live on OneSoccer. Friday’s semifinals will be available on OneSoccer’s main channel, as well as on FuboTV and TELUS Optik TV (channel 980) in Western Canada.
Sunday’s matches will stream on OneSoccer’s secondary channel and can be viewed via onesoccer.ca or the OneSoccer app on iOS or Android.
Fans of the League1 Canada Women’s Inter-Provincial who are new to OneSoccer can subscribe at a discounted rate of just $4.99 for the first month (regular price 14.99) by using promo code Inter2025 at watch.onesoccer.ca. To sign up, click Subscribe in the top right corner of the homepage. Then click Register to create your account. Choose the Monthly Pass, enter your payment information along with the promo code Inter2025, and click Pay to Subscribe.
This interview has been translated from french and edited for length and clarity.