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Hidden gems: How 3 Canadian players took non-traditional roads to Women’s World Cup

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1 year ago

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Canadian national soccer team forward Cloé Lacasse’s words said it all.

After making the 23-player roster for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup roster in Australia and New Zealand, the 30-year-old native of Sudbury, Ont., summed up the moment as a player who had been often overlooked for most of her career.

“Hard work. Determination. Resilience. My family and friends’ relentless support throughout the years. It’s all paid off for this moment,” wrote Lacasse on her social media channels after being named to the Canadian team, which kicks off its tournament with a match against Nigeria on Thursday, July 20.

While Lacasse has enjoyed a rewarding professional career playing abroad (the reigning Portuguese league’s player of the year with Benfica recently signed with Arsenal of the Women’s Super League), she is one of many Canadian examples of players getting their national team opportunity later in their career.

Aside from an under-20 camp back in 2012 when she was 19, Lacasse didn’t get a call back into the national system again until she was 27. That’s when coach Bev Priestman called her into an international series in the UK in April of 2021 against Wales and England.

Since then, Lacasse has made 19 appearances for Canada (starting in four matches) and scored her first and only goal – so far – in October of 2022 against Argentina.

Host Andi Petrillo sits down with Canadian women’s national team head coach Bev Priestman, with less than a week away to the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Player development

Not every player’s arc of development happens the same way. There are those that climb the ranks through the often traditional path of the national team’s youth system. And there are those that are overlooked in their early years, only to bloom later or get their chance thanks to a coach’s fresh set of eyes.

Vanessa Gilles is another.

“I think what Bev did for this country, obviously winning an Olympic gold medal, but not only that, she gave everybody a chance. I think that’s something that a lot of people, including myself will be forever grateful for,” said Gilles at a recent practice session in Toronto before leaving for Australia.

“She’s brought that to this team in terms of looking outside of the bubble that we already had, looking outside of just Canada and the U.S., getting players that haven’t got called in the past, whether that’s Mimi Alidou, Clarissa Larisey, Cloé Lacasse, all these players who have been overlooked, giving them a chance to show what they can bring. I think Bev has done an incredible job of that.”

It’s hard to believe the 2023 edition of the World Cup will be Gilles’ first with the team.

A late cut from Canada’s 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup team, it’s been nothing but a dramatic trajectory since, both professionally and with the national team.

After making her presence known at the SheBelieves Cup, playing 90 minutes at centre back in a 1-0 loss to the United States, Gilles has been a fixture of Canada’s fierce backline, not to mention one of the most sought-after defenders in the world.

A competitive tennis player into her teens, the now 27-year-old Ottawa native was never part of the Canadian youth setup, but did earn a NCAA scholarship to the University of Cincinnati. From there, a European passport through her French father, allowed her to pursue a career overseas, first in Cyprus, then with FC Girondins de Bordeaux of Division 1 Feminin where she first caught the eye of the national program.

From there, she played for Angel City FC of the NWSL, scoring the team’s first goal in history, and now with Olympique Lyonnais, the 14-time Division 1 Feminin champions and eight-time Champions League titlists.

Again, this is a player who scrambled out of college to find a place to play professionally and didn’t get her first real shot with Canada until she was 24.

Gilles now has 25 caps for Canada, 22 of those starts, more often than not playing a full 90 minutes against the top strikers in the world.

Canadian women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman delivers the life-changing news to the stunned teenager.

Lacasse take game to new level

Soccer North host Andi Petrillo recently asked Priestman which players had grown the most since the Olympic gold medal and she didn’t hesitate to highlight Lacasse.

“There’s quite a few [players],” Priestman said. “Cloé Lacasse, I would say, has really started to grow in confidence in this environment. I find anybody who hasn’t grown in our youth system, it takes them a while to get used to the tactics and the way that we work. With Chloe you can’t take away from what she’s done.”

What she’s done includes scoring 102 goals in 131 games during her four years at Benfica (five in Champions League) plus a scoring title, and winning major trophies like Portuguese league titles and cups.

She’ll be counted upon to fill the large void left by Janine Beckie, who was ruled out of the tournament with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in her right knee.

So too will fellow national team striker, Evelyne Viens. She wasn’t part of the national youth program, either. In fact, she didn’t even compete on Quebec provincial teams growing up because it meant leaving her family in L’Ancienne-Lorette, Que., a suburb of Quebec City, to move to Montreal.

Despite scoring 73 goals in 77 games and setting school records at the University of South Florida, she was never invited to a national team camp, until Priestman came along. Viens has since scored four goals in 18 appearances and was part of the Olympic-winning team. Currently, the 26-year-old has been lighting up Sweden’s Damallsvenskan with Kristianstads DFF where she’s scored 12 goals in 17 matches, good for third-most in the league.

Host Andi Petrillo previews Canada at the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup, sit downs with Christine Sinclair, and reacts to Canada’s performance so far at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

There could be hundreds of other hidden gems like Gilles or Lacasse or Viens in Canada. That’s one reason why some believe a domestic professional league is vital to keep women in the game and help them unearth their potential.

In future years, when the professional ecosystem broadens with Project 8’s league beginning in 2025, players will be able to develop and be seen right here at home.

Perhaps a common theme among these three players is patience, a passion to pursue their sport at a high level and not giving up even if it meant taking the path less travelled. They’ve also benefited from a coach who understands that not all athletes develop at the same rate or take the traditional route to get to the end goal.

“A lot of us have to be thankful [to Bev],” said Gilles. “She’s brought in these different styles of players and made this player pool a lot bigger than it was for sure.”

Host Andi Petrillo reacts to Canada getting knocked out of the Gold Cup in the quarterfinals, sits down with Bev Priestman, and looks at Canada’s roster for the Women’s World Cup.

 

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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3 hours ago

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October 18, 2024

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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October 17, 2024

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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October 17, 2024

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

___

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