North Mississauga Panthers were in danger of losing their spot at the top of the women's division table on Matchweek 16, after giving up two early goals to Sanjaxx's Julia Wong (31') and Cassandra Pineda (38'), but the home side showed their winning form once again after a Maya Thompson (39', 62') brace and Victoria Jacobs (75') led them to a 3-2 win.
"We're smiling now," said North Miss assistant coach, Trevor Bertrand.
"The message to the players is to continue. Championship teams are made of that. Sometimes you have to grind it out, which is what we did today, so I am happy. A number of our senior players were not well and did not feature, but we ground it out and we'll take it."
North Miss got off to a slow start, and it was exactly what Sanjaxx were looking for, as Sanjaxx head coach Devon Porter explained.
"That was our game plan, just to sit there and wait for our opportunity and then take our moments," he said.
"It paid off, we got two early goals, and all we needed to do was stay behind the ball, keep the lead and don't chase it because we know they are going to come at us. We just wanted to work together as a unit."
"I just think the girls should have been disciplined enough to see it through."
With the win, North Miss remains five points clear of FC London in second place, but with winning and leading the table comes another type of challenge according to Bertrand.
"Before the game today we spoke to the players about the fact that sometimes when you play against teams that are lower than you in the standings, instead of keeping the level and standards you have been playing at you slow down and fall asleep," he said.
"That in the end is exactly what we did today. The first two goals we fell asleep, I call them blunders. We told the girls we have to come back, we cannot be in the position where we lost two points, so it was a hard fought battle but it's a win."
North Mississauga SC will next play Aurora FC on August 16 at Hershey Centre, Mississauga.
Sanjaxx Lions will next play Unionville Milliken SC on August 18 at Bill Crothers Turf, Unionville.