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

Published

1 year ago

July 15, 2023

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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NHL roundup: Hurricanes beat Flyers 6-4 for seventh straight win

Published

23 hours ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Martin Necas scored a go-ahead goal with 29 seconds left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4 on Tuesday night.

It was the seventh straight win for the Hurricanes, who also got goals from Jack Roslovic, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

Necas typically saves his game-winners for overtime, with nine in his career, but he was able to take care of business in regulation with his team-best seventh goal of the season.

Travis Konecny scored two goals and had two assists for the Flyers. Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia.

Aleksei Kolosov made 28 saves for the Flyers, who trailed 2-1, 3-1 and 4-3 but kept coming back. Carolina’s Pyotr Kochetkov struggled in net allowing four goals on just 16 shots.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

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SABRES 5 SENATORS 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram and Tage Thompson scored 16 seconds apart to open the third period, and Buffalo snapped a three-game skid with a win over Ottawa.

Byram scored twice, JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.

Ridly Greig converted his own rebound in cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 with 7:31 left in the second period. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in dropping to 1-4 in his past five starts.

Buffalo went up 3-1 on Byram’s second goal 21 seconds into the third period. The defenceman’s shot from inside the blue line sneaked through Ullmark, with the puck rolling down the goalie’s pad, dropping into the crease and trickling across the line. Thompson scored when he crashed the net, was knocked over by defender Jake Sanderson and was lying in the crease when Alex Tuch’s shot went in off his shoulder.

—

MAPLE LEAFS 4 BRUINS 0

TORONTO (AP) — Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season in Toronto’s 4-0 victory over Boston.

Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists as Toronto connected three times on the power play. William Nylander and Matthew Knies added a goal and an assist each. Mitch Marner had two assists of his own. Steven Lorentz rounded out the scoring into the empty net.

The Leafs played without captain Auston Matthews, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Jeremy Swayman made 23 stops for Boston, which was coming off consecutive weekend shutouts of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken.

Toronto’s porous 31st-ranked power play scored for the second time in as many games at 8:44 of the second period when Rielly fired through a screen. Nylander banked in his team-leading 10th goal of the season on another man advantage 1:14 later for a 2-0 lead.

The Bruins entered the game 8-0-0 in the regular season against their Atlantic Division rival dating back to Jan. 14, 2023.

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FLAMES 3 CANADIENS 2 (OT)

MONTREAL (AP) — Matt Coronato scored twice as Calgary came back to defeat Montreal in overtime.

Coronato tied the game with 2:46 remaining in regulation when he cruised into the slot and went off the post and in. He then buried the winning goal seven seconds into the extra period.

Connor Zary also scored for Calgary, which won its second game in seven outings. Dustin Wolf stopped 21 shots.

Joel Armia — with a short-handed goal — and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal (4-7-2). Armia also provided an assist, while Sam Montembeault made 32 saves as the Canadiens’ losing streak extended to four games.

Zary opened the scoring with his third 4:20 into the second period when he pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired a shot past Montembeault.

Gallagher then slipped the puck between Wolf’s pads at 16:23 to level the score with his fifth of the season.

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BLUES 3 LIGHTNING 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist scored to help St. Louis beat Tampa Bay 3-2.

Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for his 149th career win moving him past Jake Allen for second place in franchise history, just two wins behind Mike Liut’s 151.

Nick Perbix and Victor Hedman scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning who have lost three straight games.

Kyrou scored his fourth goal of the season 8:51 into the third period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Toropchenko scored his first goal of the season with 1:35 remaining in the second period to put St. Louis ahead 2-1 after Sundqvist tied the game with his first of the season 7:47 into the period.

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ISLANDERS 4 PENGUINS 3 (SO)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a shootout and New York rallied past Pittsburgh 4-3.

New York goalie Ilya Sorokin denied Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in the shootout and finished with 32 saves. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who trailed 3-1 midway through the third period.

Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the third for New York. Horvat had two assists.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead Pittsburgh. Crosby got his 598th career goal, and Michael Bunting also scored. Rakell added two assists.

Alex Nedeljkovich stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who have lost seven of nine. They won their previous two following a six-game skid.

—

KINGS 5 WILD 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Trevor Lewis scored twice, Kevin Fiala added another on the power play and Los Angeles beat Minnesota 5-1.

Warren Foegele and Quinton Byfield also scored for Los Angeles, which was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 3-0 win in Nashville a night earlier. David Rittich made 23 saves for the Kings.

Fiala, who was traded to Los Angeles in 2022 by Minnesota for a first-round pick draft pick and defenceman Brock Faber, scored his seventh goal of the season. He now has three goals and six assists in his last seven games against the Wild.

Minnesota, which had won three in a row, opened the scoring in the second period on Zach Bogosian’s first goal of the season. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots for the Wild.

—

JETS 3 UTAH 0

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Nino Niederreiter scored twice in his 900th NHL career game and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves to help Winnipeg defeat Utah 3-0.

It was Hellebuyck’s second shutout of the season and 39th of this career.

Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets. Adam Lowry assisted on both goals by Niederreiter.

Utah ended a run of picking up points in three consecutive games (1-0-2).

Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots for Utah in its second stop on a four-game road trip.

Jets winger Kyle Connor had his franchise-record, season-opening points streak end at 12 games.

—

AVALANCHE 6 KRAKEN 3

DENVER (AP) — Arturri Lehkonen scored the go-ahead goal on a power play in his season debut and Nathan MacKinnon had five assists as Colorado beat Seattle 6-3.

Mikko Rantanen added two goals for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko and Chris Wagner also scored for Colorado.

Cale Makar had two assists but the star defenceman barely played in the second half of the game and appeared to be slowed by an apparent injury during a brief shift.

MacKinnon and Makar extended their season-opening point streaks to 13 games.

Lehkonen played for the first time since off-season shoulder surgery.

Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken.

—

CANUCKS 5 DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brock Boeser, Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and an assist apiece, and Quinn Hughes recorded his 300th career assist in Vancouver’s victory over Anaheim.

Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson also scored and Hughes had three assists for the Canucks, who have won six of eight. Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves in Vancouver’s sixth consecutive win over the Ducks.

Olen Zellweger scored a power-play goal early in the first period for Anaheim, which has lost seven of nine. Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots.

Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko took shots from teammates again after the morning skate, and he could return to practice this week. The Southern California native and 2023-24 Vezina Trophy finalist hasn’t played this season due to a knee injury incurred late last season.

—

SHARKS 2 BLUE JACKETS 1 (OT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Alex Wennberg scored 3:11 into overtime and San Jose celebrated the return of No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini with a win over Columbus.

Defenceman Jack Thompson scored his first career goal for the Sharks (4-8-2), who entered the night with the worst record in the NHL. San Jose has won four of five.

Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, missed 12 games with a hip injury he sustained in the season opener Oct. 10 — an injury first incurred during the pre-season. Celebrini didn’t score and missed a shot early in overtime.

San Jose goalie Vitek Vanacek was fantastic in net, making 49 saves.

Blue Jackets right wing Kirill Marchenko scored for the second consecutive game. Columbus (5-6-1) has lost three straight.

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

Published

2 days ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

Published

2 days ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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