CanWNT

The squad played 11 games in 2014 and finished with a record of 4W-2D-5L. Canada beat Finland, Italy, Ireland and Sweden. They earned draws against USA and Sweden. They lost to USA, England, Germany and twice to Japan.

Sophie Schmidt had the scoring touch this year; she led the team with six goals. Three of them were netted at BC Place in Vancouver.

Milestones:

25th cap – Kadeisha Buchanan

25th cap – Adriana Leon

75th cap – Desiree Scott

75th cap – Emily Zurrer

100th cap – Erin McLeod

150th cap – Rhian Wilkinson

50th game coached – John Herdman

1st goal – Kadeisha Buchanan

Debuts:

Nkem Ezurike (March 5 v Finland)

Rachel Quon (March 5 v Finland)

Rebecca Quinn (March 7 v Italy)

Allysha Chapman (October 25 v Japan)

Janine Beckie (November 26 v Sweden)

Looking ahead to 2015:

The team will be pushing hard in their final preparations to host the Women’s World Cup. They are slated to play around 10 matches before June. On tap is the Yongchuan Cup in China, the Cyprus Cup and a potential friendly with Norway.

CanW20

Head coach Andrew Olivieri led the team to the quarter-final of the U-20 Women’s World Cup, where they fell 2:0 to Germany, the eventual champions.

The team looked nervous coming out of the gate when the tournament began, as they suffered an opening match lost to Ghana. However, they settled in nicely and showed tremendous resilience in their second match and defeated Finland 3:2 in a come from behind effort.

Kinley McNicoll wore the arm band for the red and white.

Janine Beckie led the team in scoring with two goals. Goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan played in every match.

Six players from the squad went into the tournament with senior experience: Ashley Lawrence, Kadeisha Buchanan, Rebecca Quinn, Sura Yekka, Jessie Fleming and Nichelle Prince.

Sura Yekka, Jessie Fleming and Sarah Kinzner were part of the U-17 squad that represented Canada in Costa Rica earlier in the year.

CanW17

Canada finished second in their group with five points and a 1W-2D-0L record. Bev Priestman’s team advanced to the quarter-final, but lost in a heartbreaker to Venezuela.

Their opening match against Germany was a nail-biter. Although Canada had the lead going into the half, the Europeans surged back in the second to tie things up. This proved to be a learning experience for the group and taught them not to let the foot off the gas in their other games.

Marie Levasseur led the team in scoring with four goals in three matches.

The squad was captained by Jessie Fleming, who played every minute of the four games. She finished the tournament with a goal and an assist.

Goalkeepers Devon Kerr and Rylee Foster split duties in net.

CanW15

The youngsters captured the inaugural CONCACAF Girls’ U-15 Championship with a victory on penalties in the final against Haiti.

The team played a total of six matches and outscored their opponents by a margin of 22 to three.

Lysianne Proulx was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper, while Sarah Stratigakis captured best player honours.

About the author:

Sandra Prusina is a journalist and broadcaster based out of Calgary, Canada. She has covered women’s soccer since 2010. She is also a segment reporter for Olympic Broadcast Services, traveling to Vancouver, London and Sochi to work for the host broadcaster.