CONCACAF W Champions Cup
The Whitecaps Girls Elite team found their first win in the group stage of the competition with a 2-1 win over Santa Fe; Hernandez Gray was unavailable as she is on international duty. The Portland Thorns also earned a 3-1 victory over América. Christine Sinclair proved the hero for the Thorns, scoring a brace to earn her team the win. She played the full match, and Jessie Fleming entered as a substitute in the 74th minute.
England – WSL
Pre-season friendlies continued in earnest this week for our players in England. Ashley Lawrence and Kadeisha Buchanan both saw action for Chelsea in a 9-0 routing over Feyenoord Rotterdam: Lawrence entered in the 43rd minute, and Buchanan started and played 63 minutes. Olivia Smith was unavailable for Liverpool’s 2-1 loss against Manchester City as she is with Canada at the U-20 WWC.
Aston Villa were once again successful in their pre-season tune-up, winning 3-1 over Everton. Sabrina D’Angelo was in net for the Villans, whereas Adriana Leon started and played 63 minutes.
FIFA U-20 WWC
The U-20 Canadian team played the final two matches of the group stage this week. First, the Canadians beat Fiji by a resounding score of 9-0. In that match, Smith and Annabelle Chukwu both started and immediately made an impact. Smith scored two goals, and Chukwu scored three goals and earned two assists. With those goals, Chukwu is now the highest-scoring youth women’s player in Canadian history. Smith and Chukwu both only played the first half, whilst Hernandez Gray was rested.
In the last group match against Brazil, Smith and Hernandez Gray started the match. Smith played 75 minutes, and Chukwu entered in the second half in the 2-0 loss. Despite the disappointing result, Canada has managed to advance through to the knock-out rounds for the first time since 2014. They will face Spain in the round of 16.
France/Italy–Friendlies
Latifah Abdu was available for Guingamp in their pre-season friendly against Le Havre; however, player stats were not made public. Guingamp fell 6-1. In an international friendly, Lyon played Juventus. Vanessa Gilles was not available for Lyon due to injury; on the other side, Lysianne Proulx made her debut for Juventus, entering in the 57th minute. Whilst Lyon won 4-2, Proulx did not concede any goals during her time in net.
Sweden – Damallsvenskan
Clarissa Larisey entered in the 61st minute for BK Häcken in a 4-0 win over AIK.
USA – NCAA
Anna Karpenko played the second half for Georgetown in a 2-1 loss to Pepperdine. She also played the second half in a 0-0 draw with Penn State. Notre Dame won 4-0 against Northern Illinois and 5-0 against Marquette; Chukwu was unavailable for both games due to international duty. Harvard continued their good form with a 1-0 win over Boston and a 1-1 draw with Pepperdine. Jade Rose played the full 90 in each match. Laurence Gladu earned the clean sheet for USC in yet another start, helping the team win 2-0 over San Francisco. In USC’s second game of the week, Gladu once again started, this time in a 2-1 loss to Stanford.
USA – NWSL
Seattle Reign narrowly won against Angel City by a score of 3-2. Jordyn Huitema played 70 minutes for the Reign and won a penalty kick, and Quinn played the full match. Megan Reid played the full match for Angel City. In another game that went to the wire, the Washington Spirit squeaked out a 2-1 win over the Portland Thorns. Gabrielle Carle started and played 62 minutes for the Spirit. For the Thorns, Sinclair was largely rested after her mid-week brace, entering in the 74th minute. Fleming was once again rested, only entering in the 83rd minute.
For Kansas City, Nichelle Prince earned another rare start, playing 72 minutes for her team in their 1-0 win. Desiree Scott also played, entering in the 60th minute. Kansas City, Prince, and Scott were victorious against Cloé Lacasse’s Utah; Lacasse played the full match. Janine Beckie earned her first start with her new club, Racing Louisville, playing 89 minutes in their 1-0 loss against Bay FC.
On Sunday, Sophie Schmidt played the first half for the Houston Dash in a 2-1 loss against Gotham FC. Allysha Chapman also saw her first minutes in the NWSL regular season since giving birth, coming off the bench in the 83rd minute. Julia Grosso and Chicago continued their losing streak, losing 1-0 to first-place Orlando. Grosso played 88 minutes for the Red Stars.
In a highly entertaining match, North Carolina decisively beat San Diego 4-1. Bianca St-Georges started the match and scored North Carolina’s third goal of the night—and her third of the season. St-Georges played 72 minutes, and Sydney Collins remained unavailable due to injury. For San Diego, Kailen Sheridan started in net, but was ejected due to a straight red card in the 60th minute.
UWCL
The 2024-2025 UWCL qualifying rounds commenced this week. In the first of two matches, Benfica played Nordsjælland, winning 3-1. Marie Alidou was subbed off in additional time at the end of the second half. In their second match of the week, Alidou played the full game, scoring one goal and earning one assist. Benfica won 4-0 over Sarajevo.
POTW: Christine Sinclair
Goals: 9 (Alidou x 1, Chukwu x 3, Sinclair x 2, Smith x 2, St-Georges x 1)
Assists: 3 (Alidou x 1, Chukwu x 2)
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