The Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship returns this weekend, pitching some of the best women’s teams across the country against each other for a shot at League1 Canada glory.
The tournament will see two back-to-back semifinals take place on Friday, August 11, including Ontario’s Alliance United facing British Columbia’s Unity FC, and PEF Québec going up against L1BC champions Whitecaps FC.
The two winners from the semifinal round will then compete for the crown in a grand final, with the other teams battling for third place.
Let’s take a deeper look at the contenders:
Whitecaps FC
Whitecaps are not a team to be messed with. They registered 11 wins and two losses this year in League1 British Columbia and finished top of the regular-season standings with 34 points – the only team to accumulate 30 or more.
Heading into the playoffs as top seed, they thumped TSS Rovers 5-2 in the semifinal with super-sub Jaime Perrault netting a brace. They then won 3-1 against Unity in the final, with Kaylee Hunter getting two goals of her own, to take the L1BC crown.
Adding to the team’s goal threat, captain Kierra Blundell was the league’s joint top scorer with 10 goals and collected a Golden Boot award – something that would look great on the mantlepiece next to an Inter-Provincial Championship gold medal.
Unity FC
Unity finished third out of seven teams in the inaugural L1BC season, and matched that position in this year’s regular season, consistently proving themselves as one of the teams to beat in British Columbia over the past 24 months.
The playoff berth doubled from two teams to four ahead of the 2023 campaign, so Unity’s top-four position gained them entry to the playoffs. They didn’t hold back against semifinal opponents Nautsa’mawt FC – rebranded from 2022 Inter-Provincial competitors Varsity FC – winning 4-1 with four different scorers.
Having already gone toe-to-toe with Whitecaps in their last game of the regular season, losing 5-4, Unity couldn’t go one better in the final. But the club has a strong relationship with Inter-Provincial Championship hosts Vancouver FC which may give them a greater feeling of home advantage, and a chance to quickly get back at their L1BC rivals.
Alliance United
Alliance are the only returning team from the inaugural Inter-Provincial Championship, finishing third in the 2022 tournament in Quebec. Yet they come into this year’s tournament in even better shape.
Last year Alliance secured snuck into the final League1 Ontario Women’s Premier Division playoff spot on the last day of the season, and went all the way to the final but lost the title game to NDC Ontario. The champions couldn’t field a squad for the Inter-Provincials because many of their team were playing in the Canada Summer Games, so Alliance stepped up to represent the province.
Fast forward 12 months and Alliance finished fourth in the regular season and went on to beat NDC 2-1 in a replay of the 2022 final. Now champions themselves, Alliance will have eyes on more silverware this summer.
PEF Québec
Programme Excel Féminin de Soccer Québec is closely affiliated with the academy of Major League Soccer franchise CF Montréal – like their Inter-Provincial counterparts Whitecaps FC who are associated with Vancouver Whitecaps.
The partnership between PEF Québec and CF Montréal, which began in spring this year, has seen instant rewards in the form of Ligue1 Québec champion status. PEF came out on top of the league table, after finishing seventh last year, to win their first L1QC title.
They’ve also already proved themselves in a cup format this year, winning the Coupe L1QC and keeping three clean sheets across the four rounds. They defeated former Inter-Provincial competitors FC Laval in the final on August 6, and would fancy themselves to stir up the pot in Langley this weekend.
Play your part
Tournament passes are available at just $20, granting access to all four matches across the weekend, with free admission for children under 12. Fans who come along to watch the action will be supporting the growth of women’s soccer across the country.
Tickets for either the Friday or Sunday are available for $15; or if you can’t make the tournament in person, each game will be streamed live on OneSoccer.
Tickets can be purchased here: https://sport.li/nk-L1IPC2023W_tix
Don’t miss it!