Jade Bordeleau Leads NCS to Dominant Victory Over SMU
Jade Bordeleau tore through SMU like a storm that never let up.
The NCS forward delivered a ruthless attacking display, scoring a hat-trick and driving her side to a commanding win over SMU in a match that quickly turned into a showcase of relentless pressure and sharp finishing.
Bordeleau takes control
From the opening exchanges, NCS played on the front foot, and Bordeleau set the tone. She struck first with a well-worked goal, finishing off a move created by the industry of Daisy Duda and the awareness of Madison Casteen. The combination play carved SMU open, and Bordeleau applied the clinical touch.
She did it again. Same scorer, same supporting cast. Duda and Casteen once more linked up to free Bordeleau, and the forward punished SMU for leaving her even a fraction of space. Two goals, same pattern: NCS moving the ball with confidence, Bordeleau arriving with intent.
SMU tried to respond through Kaia Samuelsen Elverum, who sent an effort over the top, but that brief moment of promise didn’t halt the tide.
NCS piled on the pressure and forced defensive chaos that led to a pair of team goals, the ball eventually forced over the line to deepen SMU’s problems. By then, NCS were swarming around the box, every loose ball feeling like it would fall to a player in red.
Bunton hits back from the spot
SMU’s route back into the match came from 12 yards. Twice.
Brooke Bunton stepped up for a penalty and buried it, then later repeated the feat with another confident finish from the spot. Her composure gave SMU a lifeline each time, cutting into the deficit and briefly shifting the mood.
But NCS never really loosened their grip. Emily Wong flashed a shot wide. Bordeleau fired over. Mana Nakata drove attempts from distance, one sailing high, another bending wide, and then finally forcing Aubrey Brown into a sharp save to the top right. The pattern was clear: NCS attacked in waves, SMU clung on and countered when they could.
Aoki and Bordeleau link up
The pressure finally broke SMU again when Yuna Aoki took control of the midfield tempo. Twice she picked out Bordeleau with the kind of service strikers dream about.
On both occasions, Bordeleau did the rest, completing her hat-trick with two more composed finishes. Aoki’s vision split SMU open, and Bordeleau’s movement and timing turned good passes into goals.
Duda then went close herself, firing over the bar as NCS continued to hunt more.
Roberts joins the party
With SMU reeling, Erica Roberts stepped into the spotlight. She struck for NCS to add another goal to the tally, a clean finish that underlined the gulf in attacking sharpness between the sides. Roberts later tested Brown again, driving low to the bottom left, only for the SMU goalkeeper to get down and save.
Brown, under siege for long stretches, also denied Katie Richter with another stop to the bottom left, doing what she could to prevent the scoreline from growing even more lopsided.
At the other end, SMU finally broke through from open play when Kaylee Noble found the net after having an earlier effort saved by Riley Pickels. Noble had already forced Pickels into a stop with a low strike to the center; the second time, she made it count and gave SMU a rare moment of joy in front of goal.
NCS depth, SMU resistance
Both lineups told the story of intent. NCS rolled out an aggressive core: Pickels in goal; Aoki orchestrating; Nakata and Alex Mohr providing structure; Roberts, Casteen, Carly Montgomery, Bordeleau, Duda, Wong, and Mary Frances Symmes driving the attack and transitions.
SMU leaned on Brown’s shot-stopping and a back line of Jessica Osborne, Libby Jannereth, Julianne Richter, and Nicole Stryker, with Zoe Parkhurst, Bunton, Maleeya Martin, Abigail Goldean, Elverum, and Kamiya Beck trying to absorb pressure and spring forward.
Nakata kept testing from range, sending another effort over the top late on. Bunton, searching for a third goal of her own, fired high as SMU chased respectability on the scoreboard.
The final whistle closed a game that belonged to NCS from almost the first attack. Bordeleau’s finishing, Aoki’s creativity, and Roberts’ edge in the final third turned a competitive fixture into a statement win.
If this is the standard NCS can sustain, the real question is who will be able to slow them down.
