Rise Higher

Awards and successes were everywhere this week, as many US-based Canadians were honoured for their efforts in the past season. In the NWSL, Kailen Sheridan earned a much deserved nomination for Goalkeeper of the Year, whilst up-and-coming midfielder Victoria Pickett picked up a nomination for Rookie of the Year. In the NCAA, there were conference honours aplenty; Julia Grosso made the All-Big-12 First Team, whilst Gabrielle Carle and Sarah Stratigakis made the Second Teams of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten Conference respectively. Brand new call-up Nikayla Small again proved herself to be a major talent in the making, as she was named to the all-ACC Freshman Team.

Fresh off the award announcements, the NCAA conference tournaments came to a close, with Jayde Riviere’s Michigan Wolverines, Gabrielle Carle’s Florida State Seminoles and Julia Grosso’s Texas Longhorns all making it to the finals of their respective championships. For the second year in a row, the Seminoles secured the Atlantic Coast Conference trophy, with a 1–0 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers; Carle and the rest of her defence played a key part in the win, keeping a stellar Virginia attack scoreless for just the second time this season. Congratulations are also on the cards for Riviere and the Michigan Wolverines, who also won their final against the Rutger Scarlet Knights with a slim 1–0 victory. This was Michigan’s first time winning the Big Ten title since 1999 — a truly remarkable achievement for the team, who dominated the Scarlet Knights throughout. It is particularly impressive considering the champions lost 4–1 to the Scarlet Knights just one month ago: surely, revenge has never tasted sweeter.

Unfortunately, after a brilliant season, the Texas Longhorns lost the Big 12 final 2–1 to the TCU Horned Frogs. The Longhorns started off the scoring in the 37th minute, but the Horned Frogs came back to tie them in the 58th, and sealed the win with a second goal with just ten minutes to spare. Grosso and the Texas Longhorns — alongside the Florida State Seminoles and the Michigan Wolverines — will now await news of their NCAA tournament opponents, which will be revealed on Monday. Regardless of the result, Grosso has done herself proud this season, impressing week after week. With these performances, and her Olympic success, she will doubtlessly be attracting keen interest from various clubs across the globe.

In the NWSL, playoff action began with Gotham FC facing Chicago Red Stars in the first round. Kailen Sheridan retained her starting spot, whilst Evelyne Viens saw her usual ten minutes plus stoppage in the closing stages of their 1–0 loss. This marks a bitterly disappointing end to Gotham’s season, as they bow out of their first playoff tournament since 2013.

In the FA Women’s Super League, Jessie Fleming picked up another start and scored the lone goal in Chelsea’s 1–0 win over Aston Villa, taking her to two goals and three assists so far this season; not bad for a player primarily used as a substitute. With three goal involvements in her last four matches, Fleming is now fully making her mark on this star-studded Chelsea side and it seems that she will only be on the up from here.

Janine Beckie also had a productive week in terms of goal involvements, with a goal and an assist in Manchester City’s midweek continental cup tie against Durham. Beckie was once again deployed at right-back and put in a superb performance, driving much of City’s attack. The natural forward also demonstrated her versatility, playing right-back, right winger and left winger at various points throughout the match. Manchester City followed their midweek victory with a 4–1 league win over Leicester City at the weekend, but Beckie took a well-deserved rest on the bench having started ten of City’s previous eleven matches this season.

Elsewhere, Deanne Rose scored her first professional goal on Sunday — and followed it up with another less than twenty minutes later, sealing Reading’s 3–0 victory over Birmingham City. Rose has been a dangerous attacking threat for Reading for some time now, but their slow start to the season meant opportunities have been relatively scarce; with this brace, Rose has now scored one third of Reading’s goals this season. Hopefully, this will be the start of an uptick for Reading, with plenty more goals to come for the young Canadian starlet.

Whilst Shelina Zadorsky and Tottenham Hotspur couldn’t pull off victory against Manchester United, they will likely be the happier of the two sides after a 95th minute Spurs equaliser ended the match as a 1–1 draw. Despite trailing since the 45th minute, Spurs continued to battle on and their resilience was rewarded with a crucial point. Elsewhere in London, Adriana Leon’s West Ham suffered a 4–0 loss to league leaders Arsenal. Leon, however, was not included in the squad, having suffered a “potentially serious” foot injury. This setback comes at a particularly frustrating time for the striker, as she has discovered brilliant form of late — hopefully, the injury will be milder than first expected, and she will be back to scoring goals for club and country soon.

Top performers this week: Jessie Fleming, Janine Beckie, Deanne Rose

Highlights for the next week:

Lyon v Bayern Munich: In terms of Champions League match-ups, they don’t get much better than this, as seven-time European champions Lyon go up against the current German title holders. With the top two in each group moving onto the knockout stages, both are likely to move on regardless of the outcome of this match, but there’s a great deal of pride at stake here, as the two teams endeavour to demonstrate their dominance on the European stage. Wednesday 10 November, 20:00 GMT, DAZN

Man City v Chelsea: A match between Manchester City and Chelsea would usually be marketed as a competitive, closely-fought battle, but City’s dire start to the season almost guarantees Chelsea the win. Still, with the talents City have in their squad, they may still mount a challenge here, and Beckie v Fleming is always fun. Will Manchester City somehow claw something from this match? Will Gareth Taylor ever get sacked? And will Janine take her frustration out on Jessie by fouling her again? Tune in to find out. Sunday 14 November, 15:00 GMT, Sky Sports

Lyon v PSG: It’s an explosive week for Lyon as they face current title holders and long-time rivals PSG, the weekend after a midweek clash against Bayern Munich. The battle between these two French heavyweights is long established. Whilst Paris Saint-Germain took the title last year, Lyon made their intentions very clear during the transfer window, nabbing three of PSG’s players, including world class goalkeeper Tiane Endler. PSG responded in kind, signing our own legendary shot-stopper Stephanie Labbé to replace Endler, but their transfer window as a whole was much more muted than their rivals. Lyon are currently sitting pretty on the top of the table, but only by goal difference, with both teams holding 21 points. These clashes are often title deciders, and they are almost always closely fought — this one is a must-watch for sure. Sunday 14 November, 20:00 GMT, broadcast details TBC

OL Reign v Washington Spirit: OL Reign come into this fixture as the second seed to Washington’s third. Whilst the Reign have one of the most star-studded squads in the league, however, there have been moments when their attack has been disjointed. And whilst the Spirit struggled at the beginning of the season, they have been on fire since the departure of serial abuser Richie Burke, and are undefeated in their last five matches. The combination of Hatch and Rodman is sure to give the Reign problems — and their 2–0 win in the same fixture last month will be a worry for Laura Harvey’s team. Sunday 14 November, 20:00 GMT, Twitch

Portland Thorns v Chicago Red Stars: The second of the NWSL Championship semi-finals sees the Portland Thorns face off against the Chicago Red Stars, in the hope they may continue their quest to add another trophy to their already stacked cabinet. Despite their position at the top of the table, the Thorns have had a tricky couple of months, with just the one win in their past six matches. Such a dip could be blamed on complacency, having secured the title already, but the Red Stars will be seeking to exploit this lull of form in whatever way they can. Sunday 14 November, 22:30 GMT, Twitch