Rise Higher

Our gold medallists are back to their clubs after a resounding 5–1 win over New Zealand (and a much more typical 1–0 a few days later) for another three weeks of domestic play before they reunite once more towards the end of November.

Janine Beckie and Jessie Fleming faced off against each other at the weekend, as Manchester City and Chelsea played their FA Cup Semi-Final. City’s resulting 3–0 loss was unsurprising considering the recent form of the team, with this marking their fifth defeat in their past eight matches. Whilst Beckie deputised as right-back again and played the full 90, Fleming came off the bench fairly late in the match. Despite only 14 minutes on the pitch, however, the ballon d’Or nominee had a beautiful assist on Chelsea’s third goal late in the match, cementing the win and destroying any chance of City turning things around. Beckie once again slotted in well in an increasingly familiar position, creating three chances that unfortunately came to nothing for the home side.

In the French league, Lyon and Kadeisha Buchanan enjoyed a 6–1 battering of ASJ Soyaux. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Buchanan was not called into action too often considering her side’s dominance, but did get 60 minutes under her belt. Lyon’s direct rivals, Paris Saint-Germain, also had a confident win this week with a 3–0 victory against Dijon. Ashley Lawrence, as a regular starter for the club, played the full 90 and was reliable as ever, maintaining a 93% passing accuracy. Jordyn Huitema was also sprightly when she came on in the 69th minute, with three key passes and one big chance created despite her limited time on the pitch. Lastly, Vanessa Gilles’s Bordeaux picked up form again after a few difficult weeks, securing a 3–0 win over Guingamp. Gilles was once again a rock within the team’s backline, maintaining the clean sheet with an 100% tackle rate and six interceptions.

The regular season of the NWSL wrapped up this weekend, with the play-offs beginning on 7 November. The teams taking part in the tournament will be Portland Thorns (Christine Sinclair), OL Reign (Quinn), Washington Spirit, Chicago Red Stars, Gotham FC (Evelyne Viens, Kailen Sheridan) and North Carolina Courage. Unfortunately, this means the end of the 20/21 season altogether for Nichelle Prince, Sophie Schmidt, Allysha Chapman, Erin McLeod and Desiree Scott.

For the NCAA players, playoffs have already begun, with the Texas Longhorns (Julia Grosso), the Florida State Seminoles (Gabrielle Carle) and the Michigan Wolverines (Jayde Riviere) all due to play their respective conference tournament semi-finals next week. Whilst the Seminoles got a bye to the Atlantic Coast Conference semi-final, the Wolverines and the Longhorns faced first round matches this week. Riviere played the full 90 in a 3–1 win over the Nittany Lions, whilst Grosso remained sidelined with a medical issue for the Longhorns’ 5–2 win over the Oklahoma Sooners. There is currently no information as to when Grosso will return.

Top performers this week: ballon d’Or nominee Jessie Fleming, ballon d’Or nominee Ashley Lawrence

Highlights for the next week:

Florida State Seminoles v Wake Forest Demon Deacons: The Florida State Seminoles come into this semi-final as the second ranked seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which makes them overwhelming favourites in against the sixth-ranked Deacons. The same, however, could have been said during the Deacons’ first round match, where they pulled off a shock victory against the third-ranked Duke Blue Devils. While the Seminoles may be familiar to CANXNT fans due to long-term national team player Gabrielle Carle, the Demon Deacons also feature a Canadian to keep an eye on; Nikayla Small, a freshman called up as a training player for the recent friendlies. Small assisted the opening goal in the victory against Duke — could she and her team cause another upset? Saturday 6 November, 00.00 GMT, ACC Network

Chicago Red Stars v Gotham FC: As both the Thorns and the Reign received a bye to the semi-finals, only Viens and Sheridan will be in action for the first round of playoffs next weekend. Chicago finished just three points above Gotham in the final season standings and games between the two tend to be evenly-matched, with two of their last three contests ending in 0–0 draws. Out of the two, Gotham have the impetus coming into the tie, as this is their first playoff appearance since 2013; the perennial underdogs will be looking to demonstrate just how far they have come. Sunday 7 November, 19.00 GMT, Twitch