At 17, Nichelle Prince earned her first invitation to Canada’s national soccer team camp in late 2012, about a month before making her debut — and scoring for her country for the first time.

And then, after just three appearances, nothing.

For more than two years, the Ajax-born Prince found herself on the outside looking in.

“It can be difficult,” she said over the phone Sunday from Edinburg, Texas, where Canada is competing in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship for a spot in next summer’s Women’s World Cup. “Everyone at this level, they just want to be on the field and play, so sometimes it can be frustrating and it can feel like you’re stuck in the same place for a long time.”

Prince returned to the fold in March 2015 and has been a regular ever since. She believes the time away and the years of mostly making substitute appearances — from 2015 to 2017 — gave her time to grow and find herself as a player .

“Looking back now, it has helped me so much to get where I am right now, so I’m grateful for that time,” she said.

Entering 2018, Prince, who has also played two seasons with the Houston Dash of the National Women’s Soccer League, knew it would be an important year internationally with Women’s World Cup qualifiers in play and the tournament itself on the horizon. Her straightforward goals were to become a consistent starter, score more and create more chances.

Eight months later, Prince’s six starts for Canada are the most she has made in a calendar year. Her three goals, including a brace against Jamaica in Canada’s opening 2-0 win on Friday night, have matched her previous best output from 2016. And there are still games to be played.

“It’s a long journey to be on the national team and to get a spot and to really work your way in … but I feel like I finally have my confidence now in what I can do on the field,” she said. “I still have so much more that I can give and improve on, but I feel like I’m in a good place right now.”

Playing professionally has helped Prince up her game.

“In the pro environment, you’re around such elite athletes day-in, day-out that are pushing you. You really have to fight for every single day that you’re on the field,” she said. “The speed of the play, the intelligence of players, it’s a lot higher at the pro level.”

She has one eye on proving she’s capable of performing and scoring consistently in a tournament setting, to help lock up an active spot on the Canadian squad for the World Cup in France. That means performing well in the CONCACAF competition — which wraps up a week from Wednesday — and building familiarity with fellow strikers Christine Sinclair and Janine Beckie. Prince has been paired with Beckie in four of her six starts this year.

The chance to play with the 35-year-old Sinclair, Canada’s most prolific player, has been a career highlight.

“It’s such an awesome experience that I get to say that I played with Christine Sinclair …when I’m done my career, that’s probably going to be one of the coolest things that I get to say, that I played alongside her.”

MONDAY PREVIEW

CANADA vs. CUBA

H-E-B PARK

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Edinburg, Texas

KICKOFF: 8:30 p.m.

ONLINE: ConcacafGO.com

KEY PLAYERS

Prince/Pelaez

Nichelle Prince got off to a hot start in this World Cup qualifying tournament, scoring the only two goals in Canada’s opening win against Jamaica. Midfielder Rachel Pelaez has scored seven of Cuba’s 34 goals throughout the qualifying stages, though Cuba has yet to get on the scoreboard in this competition. She links up well with striker Lilian Perez, who also scored a handful of goals in qualifying, on the left side of Cuba’s attack.

NEED TO KNOW

Cuba, ranked 88th in the world, lost 8-0 to Costa Rica in its debut at the event … Expect some changes to the Canadian starting lineup. Coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller said about “80 per cent” of the squad will remain consistent game to game, but some rotation is necessary with just two days between round-robin matches … Canada beat Cuba 2-0 in their only previous meeting, in 2012 ... The Canadians are second behind Costa Rica in Group B on goal differential (8-2).

UP NEXT

Thursday vs. Costa Rica, 10 p.m.

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