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Esther Okoronkwo's goal of getting to the first match of the Northern Super League championship has been achieved.
The 28-year-old forward scored three goals in the first 27 minutes of Monday's semifinal match at snow-covered York Lions Stadium as regular-season champion Toronto beat the visiting Montreal Rose 4-1 to win the two-legged series 6-1.
Lauren Rowe scored Toronto's fourth goal in the 84th minute.
Tanya Boychuk scored for the Roses in the 74th minute.
Esther Okoronkwo's three goals led Toronto to a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Roses in the second leg of the NSL playoff semifinals on Monday.
Toronto will face the Vancouver Rise in Saturday's NSL final at BMO Field. Vancouver defeated Ottawa 5–4 on penalties after their two-game semi-final series ended 3–3 overall.
Game two of the Toronto-Montreal series was originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon, but had to be postponed a day due to inclement weather and heavy snowfall in the Toronto area.
Okoronkwo, who had eight goals and eight assists in 1,486 minutes of regular-season play, scored in the sixth minute Monday and added a second 14 minutes later. She completed her hat-trick with a goal in the 26th minute. After that, the Roses had no chance of upsetting the hosts.
Toronto won Game 1 of the semi-finals 2-0 at Stade Boreale in Montreal on November 1. Nikayla Small and Kaylee Hunter scored the goals for the visitors.
