Canada will have to keep waiting for its chance to defeat Goliath.

The Canadian national women’s soccer team fell 3-1 to the United States in the second game in four days between the teams.  Janine Beckie had the lone goal for Canada, while Julie Ertz, Alex Morgan, and Carli Lloyd scored for the U.S. in front of a sold-out crowd at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California. 

The Americans extended their dominance over Canada, who still hasn’t beaten its rivals in over 16 years.  Canada is 0-28-6 since their last win against the U.S. in 2001.  The score on Sunday could have been much more lopsided, with Morgan and Megan Rapinoe narrowly missing several chances late in the game.

Canada is now 6-3-2 in 2017, with one game remaining later this month (a friendly against Norway to be held in Marbella, Spain). 

Here are the top takeaways from Sunday’s game.

 

YOUNG GUNS

True to his word, Canada’s head coach John Herdman gave all the newcomers a chance to play, including the six teenagers on the roster.  But it was the most experienced of those teens, 19-year-old Jessie Fleming (in her 46th appearance for Canada), who made one of the biggest gaffes of the night. 

Roughly six minutes after Canada had tied the game, Fleming gave the ball away when she tried to pull a nutmeg in a 1-v-2 situation.  Christen Press intercepted, and found a cutting Morgan in the box who buried it past goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé.  It was Morgan's 80th international goal, and her eighth against Canada in her career (she also scored the lone American goal on Thursday).

Fleming was named Canada’s player of the match on Thursday, and Herdman had said he had “goosebumps” watching her dominate the midfield.  On Sunday, the Americans solved Fleming and were able to largely shut her down.

16-year-old Jordyn Huitema had more playing time than she did on Thursday after entering the game in the 60th minute.  However, she did not see many touches up front.  The two other 16-year-olds, Jayde Riviere and Ariel Young, made their debuts for the national team, as did 17-year-old Julia Grosso. 

“We sent a message about our intent to get to number one through our actions in the first match of the series, and the goal for this second match was to attain consistency,” said Herdman.  “These women put in a shift tonight and I can’t say enough how proud of each and every one of them we are.  We’ll take away some lessons from tonight and from the match in Vancouver, but I can honestly say we feel pretty good about what we’ve accomplished against this U.S. team and there are no hung heads coming out of this camp.”  

 

CANADA’S TOP GOAL SCORER

Beckie continued her strong year for the national team in the 50th minute.  Christine Sinclair sent a great ball down the right wing, and Nichelle Prince was able to outrun two American defenders.  Prince cut into the box and found Beckie – also her teammate on the Houston Dash in the NWSL – alone in front.  Beckie buried her team-leading seventh goal of the year for Canada, and her 19th in her career.

Beckie once again shifted back to the midfield for Sunday, where she played for most of Thursday’s game after a tactical change was made during the first half.  Beckie has played the majority of this year up front with Sinclair and Deanne Rose. 

 

LINE-UP SHAKE-UP

Maegan Kelly earned her first start for the national team after making her debut on Thursday, lining up at right back in place of Ashley Lawrence.  Lawrence returned to her club, PSG, after being released earlier in the week for Thursday’s match. 

Kelly plays as an attacking midfielder for FC Kansas City, her club in the NWSL, but has been training with Canada as a fullback.  While overall she had a solid outing, her inexperience in the position was evident in a few moments.  Kelly was charged with playing against Rapinoe for most of the night, and the veteran was able to get the better of Kelly on a few occasions. 

After her strong performance on Thursday, including scoring the lone Canadian goal, Adriana Leon earned a starter’s spot up front, taking the place of Prince.  However, Leon did not have the impact she had during Thursday’s game, and was taken off in the 71st minute.

 

POOR START

Canada did not look like the team that dominated play for much of Thursday, but the American team also came out with a much stronger effort.  Canada was on its heels for most of the first half.  After the first 25 minutes, Canada had only had 30% of possession. 

The American pressure culminated in an early goal in the 11th minute.  Off a corner kick, Rapinoe found Ertz at the near post, who beat Allysha Chapman to the ball.  Ertz has become a regular offensive force since moving to the midfield from centre back.  It was Ertz’s 14th international goal (all of them coming off set pieces), and her sixth in the last eight games.  It was also the earliest goal Canada has conceded to the U.S. since 2011. 

 

ROUGH STUFF

As is usually the case when the two rivals meet, it was a bruising first game for both teams, especially in the first half.  At least seven players stayed down after hard collisions, including Sinclair, who was clipped by Abby Dahlkemper after narrowly missing Canada’s best scoring chance in the first half.  Sinclair was seen labouring for the remainder of the game until she was replaced by Huitema in the second half. 

The fatigue and overall wear and tear seemed to catch up with Canada on America’s third goal.  After the Canadians failed to clear on another American corner kick (their 11th of the game), Rapinoe deked around Prince and sent in a cross.  Morgan went untouched in the box as she headed it over to Lloyd, who beat two Canadian defenders to the ball and netted her 98th international goal.  It’s the most goals Canada has conceded in a game since Dec. 30, 2015 (a 3-1 loss to Brazil).