AFC Toronto looks to turns nerves into excitement for opening NSL game at BMO Field

After 10 weeks of training, AFC Toronto should be well-drilled for its opening game in the Northern Super League. But coach Marko Milanovic knows some things cannot be recreated.

Like playing in front of 14,500-plus at BMO Field.

"I think it's impossible to prepare the players for the nerves that they'll be feeling. It's hard to replicate that in training," Milanovic said before AFC Toronto's training session in the rain Friday at the lakefront stadium. "You can only hope that they're going to use the crowd as a positive, turn those nerves into excitement and come out and show what they can do."

The good news is the crowd should be cheering for Milanovic's team rather than the opposition, the Montreal Roses FC.

"We're less about the nerves, more about the excitement," said Toronto captain Emma Regan, a Canadian international. "It's a home crowd. I think we're going to feed off of the energy from that. So we're really excited to start it off at home."

"I've learned to use those nerves and turn it into energy — controlling what we can control," added American forward Shaina Ashouri. "I think the whole team's behind that."

The six-team Northern Super League kicked off Wednesday with Vancouver Rise FC's 1-0 win over the visiting Calgary Wild before an announced crowd of 14,018 at B.C. Place Stadium.

"That's history in the making right there," said Ashouri.

"It was nice to see the quality of the league from the beginning and we hope we can build on that," added Regan, a native of Burnaby, B.C.

More than 14,500 fans are expected to be on hand Saturday, with the lower bowl sold out.

Both Vancouver and Toronto will be returning to smaller stages for future matches with Vancouver playing at Swangard Stadium in suburban Burnaby