ANALYSIS + HIGHLIGHTS: CanWNT held scoreless by clinical Americans in Continental Clásico

The Canadian women’s national team was outclassed on Wednesday night, falling 3-0 to the United States at the Continental Clásico in Washington D.C.

Lynn Biyendolo had a golden opportunity to give the Americans the lead in the sixth minute after breaking in behind the Canadian backline, but sent her shot wide of the mark when trying to place the ball into the top right corner of Kailen Sheridan’s net. Sheridan was called into action again two minutes later, making an important stop to deny a header from Biyendolo as the hosts again counter-attacked quickly.

At the other end of the pitch, Janine Sonis skied a shot with one of Canada’s first forays up the pitch moments later, never challenging Claudia Dickey in the United States’ net. 

Sam Coffey provided the breakthrough for the States in the 17th minute. A free kick into the Canadian penalty area found Avery Patterson before falling to the feet of Coffey, and she calmly struck it past Sheridan as the Canadian netminder leaned the wrong way as the ball sailed past her.

Alyssa Thompson had a chance to double the lead as the States charged up the pitch a few minutes later, but Gabrielle Carle did just enough to ensure Thompson was off-balance, and the ball ended up rolling into Sheridan’s arms for an easy save. 

Canada’s best chance of the half came in the 34th minute. Sonis played a low pass to Jordyn Huitema, who took a touch and fired a shot with her right foot at Dickey, but she caught it for a comfortable stop. 

Les Rouges would end up regretting that miss, with the Americans scoring at the other end of the pitch a minute later to double their advantage. Claire Hutton beat everyone to a corner kick from Rose Lavelle, heading it down into the ground and past a diving Sheridan into the Canadian net. It was the first senior international goal for the 19-year-old midfielder Hutton on just her sixth appearance. 

Sonis attempted an audacious long-range shot in the 40th minute with Dickey far out of her net after giving the ball away near the halfway line, but there wasn’t enough power behind the shot and Dickey was able to scramble back to take care of it. 

After a first 45 minutes largely dominated by the Americans, they took a 2-0 lead into the break. 

Biyendolo and Coffey created some havoc in the Canadian box again as soon as play resumed, with Coffey firing a shot that took a deflection off a Canadian defender before going out for an inconsequential corner. Lavelle looked for a goal of her own after the hour mark, breaking through the Canadian defenders but sending her shot high over the bar. 

Canada tried on several occasions to make moves up the pitch, but the strong American defence shut them down time and time again in the second half. The attack looked disjointed as well, with the attackers struggling to find each others’ runs or not making those runs in the first place.

Biyendolo had another fantastic opportunity to put the game to bed in the 80th minute, receiving the ball from Coffey in the penalty area before turning and firing a shot off the top of the crossbar from a spot where many would expect her to find the back of the net. 

Seconds after coming off the bench for her second senior international appearance, Annabelle Chukwu had a chance to score her first goal for Canada, but the ball got tangled between her feet as she tried to line up a shot. The play was started by a great tackle from Emma Regan to win the ball in midfield, before a quick counter-attack nearly panned out.

Yazmeen Ryan put the cherry on top of a deserved victory for the Americans in the 89th minute, receiving the ball from fellow substitute Tara McKeown at the edge of the penalty area before beating Sheridan with a low shot. 

Nichelle Prince forced the first big save out of Dickey in the second minute of stoppage time with a curling effort toward the top right corner, but the American goalkeeper got both gloves onto the ball to push it away and keep her clean sheet intact. 

The States will come away from this match thinking they could have scored a few more goals – Biyendolo in particular could have had at least two more and they outshot Canada 22-7 – but in the end the scoreline read 3-0 from Audi Field. Three goals is the most conceded by Canada since a 4-0 defeat to Australia in the final group stage match at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Canada: Sheridan; Carle (Levasseur 86’), Rose, Gilles, Lawrence (Zadorsky 63’); Regan, Grosso; Fleming (Awujo 75’), Sonis (Ward 86’), Alidou (Chukwu 86’); Huitema (Prince 63’)

USA: Dickey; Patterson (McKeown 87’), Sonnett, Girma, Reale; Lavelle (Sentnor 68’), Hutton (Meza 81’); Cooper (Sears 68’), Coffey, Thompson; Biyendolo (Ryan 81’)

Goals

17’ – Sam Coffey (United States)
36’ – Claire Hutton (United States)
89' – Yazmeen Ryan (United States)

Discipline

55’ – Yellow: Ashley Lawrence (Canada)

Player of the Match

Sam Coffey, United States 

American midfielder Sam Coffey scored the opening goal on Wednesday night, and was dominant on both sides of the ball throughout the match.