Canada’s World Cup run has come to an end.
Abbotsford’s Sophie Schmidt and Team Canada fell 2-1 to England in a quarterfinal match where all the goals arrived in the first half of play.
The Canadians went down by two within the first 15 minutes of the game as England’s Lucy Bronze and Jodie Taylor finished their chances in the 11th and 14th minutes respectively.
Canada, in front of a 54,000-strong crowd, rallied in the 42nd minute with a goal by Canadian superstar Christine Sinclair, which pulled them within one.
But the English defence was stingy and kept the Canadians scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Schmidt played a strong in the midfield. An early chance on goal for Melissa Tancredi was created off a solid tackle by Schmidt in her own defensive zone.
After the loss, coach John Herdman talked about his team’s effort and the support from fans.
“Canada we’ve given you our best and it just wasn’t good enough,” said Herdman. “We wanted to go all the way for you.”
To the spectators that filled the arena for Canada’s matches, he labelled, “Immense.”
“We’ve broken records,” said Herdman, making note of the attendance and TV ratings.
He then touched on the future of the squad, calling it bright and mentioned 20-year-old midfielder Ashley Lawrence who tallied Canada’s game-winning goal against the Netherlands to help Canada top Group A.
Lawrence is Canada’s third youngest scorer in a World Cup match.
In all likelihood, this is also Sinclair’s last World Cup as a player; the veteran Canadian forward held back tears post-game.
“Hope the country’s proud of the performance we put forth,” said Sinclair.
“Super proud of our team. First time in the tournament we were down. We had a lot of chances but we just couldn’t put one away.”
Canada will now look toward the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
England faces Japan in the semi-finals, Wednesday, July 1 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton at 5 p.m. The U.S. and Germany will meet on the other side of the bracket, Tuesday, June 30 in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium at 7 p.m.
The World Cup final is on Sunday, June 5.
