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It was 10 minutes on the clock. A sliver of time, even in the tightly controlled hour-and-a-half of a soccer match.

It was 10 minutes, the first 10 minutes of the match, and it belonged to Canada’s Ashley Lawrence. If not for a very late, slashing counter-attack by the Netherlands that resulted in a goal by substitute Kirsten Van de Ven and a 1-1 tie, it might have resulted in a winner for Canada.

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It wasn’t to be, but that is no reflection on Lawrence, the speedy young midfielder who owned portions of this match and in the end helped see Canada through to the second round of the World Cup. In the end, the lost two points didn’t matter. China’s 2-2 draw with New Zealand assured that Canada finished first in Group A, which was the goal all along.

And on a night when several of Canada’s youngsters had star turns on the pitch, Lawrence shone brightest.

“She was excellent,” Canada coach John Herdman said in a rare bit of understatement for the effervescent coach. “In front of this kind of atmosphere, you sink or swim and our young players are swimming. It’s wonderful to see. Lawrence was lighting it up.”