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With the World Cup just 50 days away, several Canadian national teamers will be available for National Women’s Soccer League games on Saturday. The Canadian Soccer Association will subsidize the salaries of thirteen allocated players this season, but not all players will actually suit up for their teams before the World Cup.
Eleven of these allocations are currently residing in Vancouver as part of Canada’s Centralized Development Program (CDP), the fancy name used by the CSA for the team’s residency program leading up to June’s World Cup. As I reported on twitter yesterday, seven of these eleven will travel this weekend to meet up with their NWSL teams and will be available for selection: Christine Sinclair, Kaylyn Kyle, Rhian Wilkinson, Lauren Sesselmann, Allysha Chapman, Erin McLeod and Karina LeBlanc.
On Monday, a CSA rep told me that “players can go and play with their NWSL clubs for matches in April and the first weekend of May, but would only fly in for the weekend [from Vancouver].” She added, “Note also that some players have made other arrangements with their respective clubs.” Limited information is known at this time as to the reasoning behind why certain players will play NWSL games and others will not. The CSA did tell me that these arrangements "have been made through discussions between the players, John Herdman and the club coaches and GMs.”
If that explanation sounds a little vague…well, it certainly is. My understanding is that this is a fluid process. For example, based on minutes played in Canada’s 1-0 loss to France on April 9th, only Kaylyn Kyle traveled to Portland and was available as a sub for their home opener on Saturday, April 11th, two days later. Kyle played approximately 30 minutes in that friendly, whereas Sinclair and Wilkinson both played 90 minutes, and therefore did not travel to Portland after the game. Portland’s coach Paul Riley explained that in his post-game comments.
The full details known at this time regarding Canadians participating in NWSL before the World Cup are below:
Portland Thorns FC
Christine Sinclair, Kaylyn Kyle and Rhian Wilkinson: Will play on April 18th, any other matches are TBD
Houston Dash
Lauren Sesselmann, Allysha Chapman, Erin McLeod: Will play on April 18th and May 2nd
Chicago Red Stars
Karina LeBlanc: Will play on April 18th and April 25th
Melissa Tancredi and Adriana Leon: Participation in NWSL before the World Cup is TBD
Quon: Not currently in residency camp in Vancouver, and has been with Chicago since preseason
Sky Blue FC
Jonelle Filigno: Will not play NWSL matches until after the World Cup
Washington Spirit
Diana Matheson: Continuing to recover from ACL surgery in Vancouver
Boston Breakers
Nkem Ezurike: Not currently in residency camp in Vancouver, and has been with Boston since preseason
Last weekend
Last weekend, two Canadians saw action for their NWSL clubs to open the season. Goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo, who was drafted 21st overall in January's college draft by the Western New York Flash, made seven saves in her team's 5-1 loss to Seattle. The score line, however, really was not indicative of how the Canadian played, as she was the bright spot in an otherwise disastrous display of defending by the Flash. The highlights are below. D'Angelo made a particularly impressive double save in the second half, just after the 3:15 mark on the video (and yes, the commentator did make a boo-boo and called D'Angelo “Beverley” instead of Sabrina). The Flash also have Canadian defender Chelsea Stewart on their roster, but she was not in the 18 for this match.
Another Canadian, Sarah Robbins, made her NWSL debut last Saturday, as she came on as a sub in the 88th minute for the Portland Thorns, who beat the Boston Breakers 4-1. Robbins was born and raised Montreal, and has dual Canadian/American citizenship. She signed for the Thorns on February 26th after playing for a Finnish club called Åland United. Thorns coach Paul Riley described Sarah as “a true holding midfielder with all the qualities required to play in a physical, fast-paced league,” and added, “She is bright, technical, mobile and tactically very good.” Robbins played in three games for Canada at the 2012 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Japan.
Nkem Ezurike was available as a sub for Boston, but did not feature in the match.
Full results from last weekend:
Houston Dash 2, Washington Spirit 0
Portland Thorns FC 4, Boston Breakers 1
Sky Blue FC 1, FC Kansas City 0
Seattle Reign FC 5, Western New York Flash 1
NWSL matches this Saturday, April 18th
Western New York Flash (D’Angelo, Stewart) @ Portland Thorns (Sinclair, Kyle, Wilkinson, Robbins), 7pm ET
Houston Dash (Sesselmann, Chapman, McLeod) @ Sky Blue FC, 7pm ET
FC Kansas City @ Washington Spirit, 7pm ET
Seattle Reign FC @ Chicago Red Stars (LeBlanc, Quon), 8pm ET
All matches will be streamed live on the NWSL's Youtube account again this season.
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