Rise Higher

England

Arsenal lost to Manchester United in a slim 1-0 match. Sabrina D’Angelo and Jayde Riviere both remained on the bench for their respective teams. In a sight for sore eyes, Shelina Zadorsky returned to the bench for Tottenham Hotspur after a long spell with illness. Tottenham drew Aston Villa 3-3.

Italy

In an important match for the title, Juventus lost against Roma by a tight scoreline of 3-2. Julia Grosso played the full match for Juventus.

Portugal

Marie-Yasmin Alidou featured for Famalicão in their 2-0 loss against Brada. Cloé Lacasse played the entirety of Benfica’s 6-0 win against Ouriense. Lacasse notched two goals and two assists in the match, and has now scored 100 goals for Benfica during her time with the club. Lastly, Lysianne Proulx earned a clean sheet against Valdares in a 1-0 win.

Sweden

Vittsjö GIK suffered a thorough 4-0 beating at the hands of FC Rosengård. Both Sarah Stratigakis and Sura Yekka played the full match for Vittsjö. Clarissa Larisey earned the start for BK Häcken and played 60 minutes in their 3-0 win against IFK Kalmar. Evelyne Viens scored one goal and played the entire match for Kristianstads in their 4-0 routing of IK Uppsala.

USA

The NWSL Challenge Cup kicked off this week. Orlando Pride and North Carolina Courage played to a tight 1-1 draw. Amanda Allen didn’t feature for the Pride in either their Challenge Cup match or their regular season match as she was on international duty with the U-20s. Sydney Collins played the second half for the Courage. The Kansas City Current beat the Houston Dash 2-0. Desiree Scott is still injured, and Sophie Schmidt was rested, but Allysha Chapman played 74 minutes for the Dash. Gotham FC won their match against the Washington Spirit 1-0; Gabrielle Carle played the last half for the Spirit. OL Reign beat Angel City 2-0. Unfortunately, in Quinn’s return from injury, they were subbed off at the end of the first half due to another injury. They are expected to be out for the short term. Jordyn Huitema played the last half for the Reign, scoring a goal and earning a POTM performance. San Diego won against the Portland Thorns by a slim scoreline of 1-0 thanks to a Portland own goal. Kailen Sheridan earned the clean sheet for the Wave. Adriana Leon made her first appearance for the Thorns, playing for 68 minutes, along with Christine Sinclair, who also played 68 minutes.

In a regular season match between the OL Reign and the Chicago Red Stars, Huitema and Bianca St-Georges featured. Huitema had a great dummy on the Reign’s first goal and played 89 minutes, whereas St-Georges played 82 for the Red Stars. The Reign won the match 5-2. Three Canadians were in action as the Washington Spirit hosted the Houston Dash. The teams played to a 0-0 draw, with Carle, Chapman, and Schmidt all playing the full match for their respective teams. Of note, Allysha Chapman had an impressive match and was selected as POTM. Gotham FC continued their midweek good form and won 1-0 against the Courage. Collins remained on the bench for that match. Looking to rebound from their Challenge Cup loss, the Portland Thorns came out swinging in their match against Racing Louisville. Sinclair scored her 60th regular season NWSL goal just two minutes into the match. She played the entire match; Leon entered at 58 minutes. The Kansas City Current and Orlando Pride played, with the Current winning 2-0. Again, Scott was injured, and Allen was on international duty. In the SoCal derby, Sheridan earned the clean sheet for the Wave in a 2-0 win against Angel City.

UWCL

This weekend, the first legs of the semi-final ties were played. Barcelona beat Chelsea by a scoreline of 1-0. Kadeisha Buchanan did not feature as she is injured, and Jessie Fleming played the last ten minutes. Sabrina D’Angelo was on the bench for Arsenal’s semi-final against Wolfsburg. Arsenal came from behind to draw 2-2, making it anyone’s game when the two sides play in London next week.

Player of the Week: Cloé Lacasse

Weekly Stats:

Goals: 5 (Huitema x1, Lacasse x2, Sinclair x1, Viens x1)

Assists: 2 (Lacasse x2)