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In May 2014, after Kadeisha Buchanan scored her first goal with Canada’s national team and shut down legendary striker Abby Wambach in a friendly against the U.S., Canadian coach John Herdman made a bold proclamation.

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“I’m not frightened to say it: She’s the (Christine) Sinclair of defenders,” Herdman said of Buchanan. “She’s that good.”

It was high praise for the teenager from Brampton, Ont. Sinclair has been the dominant name in Canadian soccer for years; the ultimate standard by which other players are measured. None in recent years had come close.

That began to change in 2015. A relative unknown at the beginning of the year, Buchanan finished it having made her mark on the international stage and piled up an impressive list of awards and honours. She even had her face on a postage stamp, along with Sinclair.

She also turned 20. Less than two months ago.

Canada bowed out in the quarter-finals at the Women’s World Cup in June, but the tournament — which set attendance records for the event and television records in the U.S. — served as a marker for how far the women’s game has come in Canada and worldwide. It was also a coming-out party for Buchanan.