It was a long season in Ligue1 Québec for CS Mont-Royal Outremont.

The club endured a rebuild during regular season play which contributed to a relatively modest 8-5-3 record. Twenty-nine points accumulated was enough to keep the team’s title hopes alive, but it only qualified CS Mont-Royal Outremont as the fourth and final seed left vying for the Ligue1 Québec title out of the regular season.

On paper, the odds may have been against CS Mont-Royal Outremont. On the field, however, a 5-2 win over AS Blainville earned the side a place in the Ligue1 Québec Féminin Final, where CS Mont-Royal Outremont upset CF Montréal by a score of 2-1 last weekend to clinch the provincial title and earn the chance to make its debut at the League1 Canada Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship this coming weekend in Hamilton, Ont. 

“We had a good season, because in Québec, there’s two groups, so we were second behind CF Montréal, but we had a very good record against them during the season,” said CS Mont-Royal Outremont Head Coach Sidi Mohamed Farah.

”Out of the three games, we won two and tied one, so we were quite confident, even if we lost players.” 

That confidence came from a consistent progression over the course of the season, he said.

“The journey was nice, especially from day eight, we didn’t lose one game, so we had our 11th straight game without losing,” Farah said. “The girls were happy, and the performance made it easier to enjoy the end of the season and have the chance to compete in Hamilton this weekend.”

The team’s victory out of Ligue1 Québec means three of the four teams competing at this year’s third iteration of the Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship will be new to the competition.

CS Mont-Royal Outremont will go up against another competition debutant, NDC Ontario, in its semifinal match on Friday, Aug. 9, the opening game of the Championship. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT at Tim Hortons Field. The winner of that match will go on to the championship final, while the loser will contest a third-place match. Both of those games will be played on Sunday, Aug. 11. 

NDC Ontario goes into the competition boasting a number of scoring threats. Putting balls in the back of the net was a challenge for CS Mont-Royal Outremont during the regular season, said captain Casey Kosher, despite pulling together otherwise solid games.

That improved by the time the team reached the knockout stages in Ligue1 Québec’s season.

“When we did make the Final Four in the semifinals, we were able to have a small breakthrough, we scored five goals, it put us really on a good path,” said Kosher. “We got to finals and we were all in a good state of mind. We hadn’t lost in a lot of games. I think team really bonded, and then when we made it, I think everyone thought we were kind of the underdog. It felt good to show that we really were a good team, and we deserved to be there.”

While the CS Mont-Royal Outremont may not have had individual players scoring in the double digit counts this season, the combination of Marie-Ève Bernard O’Breham, who scored five goals this season, as well as Joelle Gosselin and Osamede Iyare, who each added four goals a piece, prove the team has depth when it comes to burying chances.

Being the underdog isn’t a new concept for CS Mont-Royal Outremont. First in Ligue1 Québec, now going into the Inter-Provincial Championship. But the team has grown together over the season and is ready to put up a fight against whoever is on the other side of the field.

“We expected to be where we are, so we did our homework, so we know what kind of football they like to play, and we’re going to go with what we know, and what we know is the girls know what to expect from this game,” said Farah. 

“It’s a football game at the end of the day, maybe not going with the favorite hat, but we’re going to fight for our chances. But most importantly, [we will] enjoy the game and enjoy the long weekend with the girls, because afterwards, they’re going to have other challenges to move. NDC Ontario is a great team, we’re aware of it, but we believe in our chances as well.”

Individual match tickets for the 2024 Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship are on sale here, starting at $20. Fans can also purchase a Weekend Ticket Pack starting at $35. Each Weekend Ticket Pack also grants the ticket holder access to the inaugural League1 Ontario Women’s League2 Division Final, which will be played at Tim Hortons Field on Saturday, Aug. 10 at 1 p.m. ET. The winner of the final will earn the divisional title and promotion to the L1ON Championship Division, the second tier of the League1 Ontario competition pyramid.