Jade Bordeleau Dominates in NCS Victory Over SMU

Jade Bordeleau tore through the match like it belonged to her.

The NCS forward delivered a ruthless attacking performance, headlining a high-scoring win over SMU with a multi-goal display that never allowed the visitors to settle. Every time SMU thought they had a foothold, Bordeleau and her supporting cast ripped it away.

Bordeleau sets the tone

From the outset, NCS played on the front foot. Bordeleau struck early, finishing off a flowing move built through the heart of midfield. Daisy Duda and Madison Casteen combined smartly, and when the ball broke to Bordeleau, she made no mistake, burying the chance to open the scoring.

NCS kept coming. The same trio linked again, and Bordeleau again provided the finish, doubling the lead and putting SMU under immediate stress. Two near-identical passages, two clinical strikes. SMU’s back line never looked comfortable with her movement.

The pressure didn’t ease. Shots from Emily Wong and Bordeleau flashed wide, while Mana Nakata tested the range from distance and from the left channel. NCS had SMU penned in, and it felt like a matter of time before the scoreline reflected the dominance.

It did.

NCS found the net twice more through team efforts, with a pair of “TEAM” goals underscoring how many red shirts were flooding forward. The scoreboard kept ticking, and SMU were hanging on.

Bunton responds from the spot

Just when the game risked slipping completely away from SMU, they found a lifeline.

Brooke Bunton stepped up to the penalty spot and delivered. Once. Then again.

Two penalty kick goals from Bunton gave SMU a pulse. Each time she faced down NCS goalkeeper Riley Pickels, she hit with conviction, dragging her side back into the contest and forcing NCS to reset mentally after what had been near-total control.

SMU even carved out a half-chance from open play as Kaia Samuelsen Elverum tried her luck from the top of the box, but her effort drifted off target. It was a warning that SMU weren’t going quietly, even as NCS continued to dictate territory and tempo.

Aoki and Bordeleau re-ignite the surge

Any thought of a full SMU revival vanished once Yuna Aoki and Bordeleau reconnected.

Twice, Aoki picked the perfect pass. Twice, Bordeleau finished.

The first came from a sharp move through midfield, Aoki sliding a precise ball into space. Bordeleau met it with the composure of a striker in rhythm, restoring NCS’s cushion. The second felt almost inevitable: Aoki again found her forward, and Bordeleau again delivered, stretching the gap and deflating SMU’s renewed optimism.

Duda drove a shot over the bar as NCS continued to swarm around the SMU box. Nakata saw another effort saved, while Aubrey Brown in the SMU goal worked hard to keep the scoreline respectable, denying Nakata, Erica Roberts, and Katie Richter with firm saves low to her left.

Roberts joins the party

With SMU scrambling to track Bordeleau, space finally opened for another NCS threat.

Erica Roberts seized it.

Roberts broke through to add her name to the scoresheet, striking cleanly to pile on further damage. She later forced another save from Brown with a low effort to the bottom corner, underlining NCS’s depth in attack. Carly Montgomery also went close, sending a shot over the top as waves of pressure kept rolling.

SMU still found moments to punch back. Kaylee Noble forced a save from Pickels with a driven effort to the center of goal, then finally broke through with a well-taken finish to add another SMU goal. It was a reward for persistence in a game where their forwards often fed on scraps.

Nakata kept firing from range for NCS, sending another shot over the bar, while Bunton capped her busy night with a late attempt that also cleared the target.

Lineups and effort

Brown anchored SMU from the back, supported by Jessica Osborne, Libby Jannereth, Julianne Richter, Nicole Stryker, Zoe Parkhurst, Bunton, Maleeya Martin, Abigail Goldean, Elverum, and Kamiya Beck. They spent long stretches under siege but kept competing, even as the goals stacked up against them.

For NCS, Pickels marshaled the defense behind Aoki, Alex Mohr, Nakata, Roberts, Casteen, Montgomery, Bordeleau, Duda, Wong, and Mary Frances Symmes. That core gave NCS balance: secure enough at the back to commit numbers forward, sharp enough in possession to turn pressure into goals.

By the final whistle, the story belonged to NCS’s attack and, in particular, to Bordeleau’s finishing. With Aoki pulling strings and Roberts chipping in, NCS looked every bit like a side built to score in bunches.

If they keep this edge in front of goal, the real question isn’t whether they can overwhelm opponents like SMU again—it’s who, if anyone, can slow them down.