Houston, TX. – February 21, 2016: Canada taking on the USA in the Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship match.
Photo by: Brad Smith
LOS ANGELES- Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team is packing their bags for Europe to play some of their fiercest competitors in the world, Sweden and Germany. Over the course of just a few days they will get a chance to play both the teams who showed them up in the Rio 2016 Olympics. Canada took home the bronze medal, while Germany grabbed the gold, and Sweden nabbed the silver.
Head Coach John Herdman has announced the 22-woman roster that will help Canada to win in these upcoming Friendlies. The roster includes 16 women from the 2016 Rio Olympic Team, along with 6 relative newcomers.
“We’ve made some changes to our roster since last year, adding some new players and saying goodbye to others, so this two-game series will be a real test of how our squad comes together against tier one competition,” said coach John Herdman in a press release.
Even though the USA is not playing in these friendlies, half of Canada’s 22-woman roster are currently players in the NWSL.
The complete roster is as follows:
GK Stephanie Labbé, age 31, from Edmonton, AB/ Washington Spirit (NWSL)
GK Sabrina D’Angelo, age 24, from Welland, ON/ North Carolina Courage (NWSL)
GK Kailen Sheridan, age 22, from Whitby, ON/ Sky Blue FC (NWSL)
FB Lindsay Agnew, age 22, from Kingston, ON/ Washington Spirit (NWSL)
FB Allysha Chapman, age 28, from Courtice, ON/ Boston Breakers (NWSL)
FB Ashley Lawrence, age 22, from Caledon, ON/ Paris St-Germain FC
FB Marie Levasseur, age 20, from Stoneham, QC/ University of Memphis (NCAA)
CB Hannah Taylor, age 17, from Edmonds, WA/ Eastside FC
CB Kadeisha Buchanan, age 22, from Brampton, ON/ FCF Olympique Lyonnais
CB Shelina Zadorsky, age 25, from London, ON/ Washington Spirit (NWSL)
M Jessie Fleming, age 19, from London, ON/ UCLA (NCAA)
M Rebecca Quinn, age 22, from Toronto, ON/ Duke University (NCAA)
M Sophie Schmidt, age 29, from Abbotsford, BC/ FFC Frankfurt (Bundesliga)
M Desiree Scott, age 30, from Winnipeg, MB/ FC Kansas City (NWSL)
M Gabrielle Carle, age 18, from Lévis, QC/ CS Lévis-Est & Québec Soccer REX
M Sarah Stratigakis, age 18, from Woodbridge, ON/ Aurora United FC (League1 Ontario)
F Jordyn Huitema, age 16, from Chilliwack, BC/ Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite BC Soccer REX
F Nichelle Prince, age 22, from Ajax, ON/ Houston Dash (NWSL)
F Deanne Rose, age 19, from Alliston, ON/ Scarborough GS United
F Adriana Leon, age 24, from King City, ON/ Boston Breakers (NWSL)
F Janine Beckie, age 23, from Highlands Ranch, CO/ Houston Dash (NWSL)
F Christine Sinclair, age 34, from Burnaby, BC/ Portland Thorns FC (NWSL)
The roster is filled with young players. The average age of the woman is 23 and the roster even includes 6 teenagers. However, Herdman is, “confident this squad will be competitive against these two teams,” he said in a press release. However, he admits that, “it’s a young team that’s still building the experience, game smarts and physicality required to be a genuine number one contender. [They] are starting to fill the experience void left by our retired veterans and will use these matches to keep providing our youth with opportunities.”
Canada will play Sweden in Trellebord, Sweden on April 6th, and Germany in Erfurt, Germany on April 9th.
Alysha Chapman was one of the 22 woman named to the roster.
Photo by: Brad Smith
Photos by ISI.
