|
|
A slew of exciting news has been announced in recent weeks related to the Canadian Women’s National Team.
2013 National Women’s Soccer League Schedule
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the top tier women’s league in North America that features 18 Canadian internationals, revealed the schedule for their inaugural season, which kicks off on Saturday, April 13 and runs until Saturday, August 31.
The eight clubs will each play 22 matches in 19-weeks (11 home and 11 away), while eight of 11 matches will be played on weekends and holidays.
NWSL playoffs begin on Saturday, August 24 with semi-final fixtures for the top four teams, culminating towards the championship final on Saturday, August 31.
Initially, 16 Canadian were allocated to the various teams in January. Since then, Candace Chapman, who’s recovering from her calf injury sustained during the 2012 Olympics, and 21-year-old Ohio State Buckeye Tiffany Cameron, have signed on as undrafted free agents.
The league is comprised of: the Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns FC, Seattle Reign FC, Sky Blue FC, Washington Spirit and Western New York Flash.
Click here to check out the full NWSL schedule.
Canada Soccer has the breakdown of the teams’ opening matches (the second team listed is the home side):
Saturday, April 13: Portland Thorns FC (Karina LeBlanc, Christine Sinclair) vs. FC Kansas City (Desiree Scott, Lauren Sesselmann)
Sunday, April 14: Seattle Reign FC (Kaylyn Kyle, Emily Zurrer, Tiffany Cameron) vs. Chicago Red Stars (Erin McLeod, Carmelina Moscato); Western New York Flash (Bryanna McCarthy, Jodi-Ann Robinson) vs. Sky Blue FC (Sophie Schmidt, Melanie Booth); Washington Spirit (Robyn Gayle, Diana Matheson, Candace Chapman) vs. Boston Breakers (Adriana Leon, Rhian Wilkinson).
International Friendlies
The CanWNT will travel to Europe for two friendlies in the spring/summer. First on the schedule is England on Sunday, April 7 at New York Stadium in Rotherham, England. The most recent encounter between the teams occurred at the 2012 London Olympics with Canada’s 2-0 quarter-final win. Currently ranked 7th in the world, Canada has a 4W-0D-2L record against the 8th ranked England (technically, it was Great Britain who played in the Olympics, but 17 of the 20 player roster was made up of England internationals, so it’s difficult to say otherwise).
Canada will then meet Germany on Wednesday, June 19 at a yet-to-be announced venue in Germany. Both sides last faced off against one another at the opening match of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup when Canada was defeated 2-1. The second ranked team will be a formidable opponent as Canada has recorded 10 losses and zero wins or draws against Germany.
Cyprus Cup Schedule
The 2013 Cyprus Women’s Cup schedule has been released. Taking place from Monday, March 4 until Wednesday, March 13, Canada will play in Group B against Switzerland on March 6 (2:30pm local time), Finland on March 8 (5:30pm local time) and the Netherlands on March 11 (5:30pm local time). With three stadiums hosting tournament matches, GSZ Stadium in Larnaca will be the site of Canada’s first and last group matches, while GSP Stadium in Nicosia will be the venue of their second match.
Final fixtures on March 13 will be based on group results. Competing in Group A is England, Italy, New Zealand and Scotland. Group C features South Africa, the Republic of Korea, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; this developmental group gives up-and-coming teams the opportunity to compete internationally, but they will not be eligible to play against teams from Groups A and B.
With Christine Sinclair serving three of four suspensions in January during China’s Four Nations Tournament (Yongchuan Cup), she will sit out the opening match of the Cyprus Cup and can return to action against Finland.
|