U20 Women: Three Points In Juarez
Canada vs Mexico 0:1
The Canadian women’s U-20 team fell 0:1 to Mexico in the second game of a two match series between the teams on Saturday afternoon in Juárez. Canada had two legitimate goals called back by the officials and were left to rue several missed scoring opportunities. Liliana Godoy scored the lone goal of the Saturday match in the 38th minute.
“I think that both teams played better this game,” said coach Carolina Morace.
“The difference in the match, however, was the four great scoring opportunities that we missed in the first half.”
Canada fashioned the first quality scoring opportunity of the match in the 16th minute. Taylor Patterson was played in alone on the Mexican goal only to see the goalkeeper tip her low drive around the far post.
Rachel Lamarre thought she had given Canada a 1-0 lead on 25 minutes, but the goal was called back by the referee’s assistant for offside. Upon video review of the goal, it appears that the Canadian forward was incorrectly flagged for offside on the play.
Mexico took advantage of Canada’s profligacy in front of goal by capitalizing on a rare scoring opportunity in the 38th minute. A Mexican free kick was hit directly on goal from the left hand side and when Canadian goalkeeper Geneviève Richard was unable to cleanly handle the ball, Mexico’s Godoy was on hand to knock the ball into the Canadian net.
“The Mexican goal was unfortunate as our goalkeeper was hurt on the play,” said Morace.
“We scored a goal that was disallowed by the assistant referee. We also had the majority of the scoring chances.”
Canada came close to equalizing in the second half as Chelsea Stewart lobbed the ball over the Mexican defence where the on-rushing Chloé Malette saw her lob fly just over the bar.
Canada was controversially denied a 90th minute equalizer after Malette had turned the ball into the net following a crazy scramble inside the Mexican six yard box. The referee waived off the goal for a hand-ball to the dismay of a frustrated Canadian squad.
Canada’s starting XI featured Richard in goal, Alexandra Smith, Shannon Woeller, Bahar Sansar and Chelsea Stewart on defence, Gina Pacheco, Laura Chénard, Rehana Murani and Taylor Patterson at midfield, and Malette and Lamarre up front. Canada made six changes in the game, including a switch of goalkeepers at the half (Dayle Colpitts replaced Richard).
Starting Lineup
Alexandra Smith, Bahar Sansar, Shannon Woeller, Taylor Patterson, Laura Chénard, Gina Pachecho, Chelsea Stewart, Rachel Lamarre, Geneviève Richard, Rehana Murani,
Chloé Malette
Substitutions
Molly Allenen (Rehana Murani) 46′
Colpitts (Geneviève Richard) 46′
Frederique Paradis (Bahar Sansar) 65′
Hannah Rivkin (Taylor Patterson) 70′
Jenna Richardson (Rachel Lamarre) 72′
Shelina Zadorsky (Chelsea Stewart) 88′
Scoring
MEX #11 8 ‘
Canada vs Mexico 3:3
Canada’s women’s U-20 team drew 3:3 with Mexico on Thursday in the first of two friendly matches between the two nations. In a back and forth match, Canada took the lead on three separate occasions only to see the Mexicans fight back three times.
“There were some very positive aspects of the team’s play in only their second outing together,” said head coach Carolina Morace.
“We need to work to improve our play in the attacking zones, especially when we have a numerical advantage. Too many times we lost the ball by not making the simple pass and maintaining possession. Much of this is related to inexperience of the players at the international level. On the defensive side we need to improve our spacing.”
Captain Chelsea Stewart gave Canada an early lead, heading home from a Bahar Sansar free kick in the 11th minute.
Mexico found their first equalizer in the 35th minute. Valeria Miranda was the first to react to a loose ball at the top of the Canadian penalty area as she beat her defender and Canadian goalkeeper Sarah Boucher to the left, and found the back of the net from a tight angle.
Canada capitalized on a period of pressure on the Mexican defence to retake the lead two minutes before halftime. Chloé Malette, a first half replacement for injured forward Sara Paul, found herself with the ball in space alone in front of the Mexican net and made no mistake slotting the ball past the Mexican goalkeeper to give Canada a 2-1 lead.
Mexico wasted little time evening the score after the restart, scoring from a quickly taken free kick two minutes into the second half.
Canada took the lead for a third time in the 58th minute from a direct play. Taylor Patterson was quick to act on a long ball played over the Mexican defence, heading the ball on a bounce past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
The Canadian lead was to be short lived as Mexico scored the final goal in the match in the 63rd minute. Canada failed to fully clear a Mexican corner which rolled to a Mexican attacker who it hit a first time shot through a crowd and past the Canadian keeper.
Canada and Mexico played the second match of the two game series Saturday 31 October, also in Juárez.
Starting Lineup
Sarah Boucher, Alexandra Smith, Bahar Sansar, Shannon Woeller, Shelina Zadorsky, Taylor Patterson, Laura Chénard, Gina Pachecho, Chelsea Stewart, Rachel Lamarre, Sara Paul
Substitutions
Chloé Malette (Sara Paul) 16′
Molly Allen (Shelina Zadorsky) 46′
Lexi Marton (Bahar Sansar) 46′
Rehana Murani (Alexandra Smith) 46′
Dayle Colpitts (Sarah Boucher) 58′
Elizabeth Hildebrant (Taylor Patterson) 71′
Scoring
CAN Chelsea Stewart 11′
MEX Miranda Valeria 35′
CAN Chloé Malette 43′
MEX Unknown 47′
CAN Taylor Patterson 58′
MEX Unknown 63′
