U20 Women: Canada Blitzed Twice By USA

Americans show their fire in friendly rout of Canada
U20 squad plays before national team coach

By Joshua Lindenstein
Wednesday, July 15, 2009

BOULDER, Colo. — U.S. women’s national team soccer coach Pia Sundhage had a message of patience for the American Under-20 squad before its exhibition match against Canada on Tuesday at Prentup Field.

“Do you think Nairn’s a good player?” she asked the group, referring to Penn State midfielder Christine Nairn. The players responded with a chorus of “Yes.”

Nairn, after all, helped the U20 squad to the World Cup title in December, and she’s missing the team’s training in Boulder this week to go to camp with Sundhage and the Americans’ top squad on Thursday in Rochester, N.Y.

“Well, with (the senior national team), she’s just starting out and has a long way to go,” Sundhage told the U20 players.

“It puts everything into perspective,” said U20 coach Jill Ellis, who recounted Sundhage’s talk with her team. “I think sometimes these kids, they’re the best there are in their environment (with their college or high school teams). And so now to come into here they see another level, and it fuels their fire a little bit to get better.”

The Americans showed plenty of fire Tuesday, routing Canada’s U20 team 8-0 on the University of Colorado campus.

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USA vs Canada 8:0
In the group’s first international friendly match, Canada’s women’s U-20 team(players born 1990 or later) fell 0:8 to USA in Boulder, CO. Canada gave up three goals in the first 10 minutes before getting behind 0-6 after just 45 minutes. USA’s strikers Toni Pressley and Sydney Leroux each scored two goals in the win.

Canada actually started out on the attack. Unfortunately, things turned quickly in the fourth minute after Pressley opened the scoring. Pressley got in front of the Canadian defence and fired home the first goal of the night.

Within five more minutes, USA added two more to its sheet. Zakiya Bywaters scored in the eighth minute after getting in alone on Canada’s goalkeeper and then Leroux scored her first of the night a minute later off a scrum. On the third goal, goalkeeper Cynthia Leblanc was already down on the ground when Leroux chipped the ball over and into the net.

Down 0-3, Canada came back and applied good pressure over the next 10 minutes, keeping the ball in the attacking zone. Unfortunately, Canada couldn’t convert its pressure to reduce the scoreline. In the 26th minute, USA’s Leroux had a chance to make it 4-0, but Leblanc stood her ground and stopped last year’s Golden Boot winner from the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008.

In the 32nd minute, however, Leroux got her second goal of the night. Seven minutes later in the 39th minute, Pressley slid in to connect with a cross through the box to get her second goal of the night.

Before the half was through, USA added one more goal to its lead in the 43rd minute. This time, Charney Burk was weaving and bobbing at the top of the box before taking her shot from outside the box. It was USA 6, Canada 0.

In the second half, USA added two more goals. In the 67th minute, substitute Naya Hayes scored on a shot from outside the top of the box. In the 74th minute, substitute Alex Newfield scored on a diving header.

Coach Morace featured 20 players in the match. She made three substitutions in the first half, two at the half, and four more during the second half. Canada faces USA one more time on 16 July, again at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO.

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