Final Score: Canada 2-2 United States (1-3 on penalties)
Goalscorers: Huitema 82′, Leon 120+7′; Shaw 20′, Smith 99′
2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup
Semifinals

Match in a minute or less

Canada battled hard on Wednesday night, but came up just short in their quest to make the Concacaf W Gold Cup final, losing to the United States on penalties.

Playing on a waterlogged pitch at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, the conditions were challenging for both sides, and directly impacted every moment of the game. This included the opening goal, as Vanessa Gilles tried to play a pass back to Kailen Sheridan at the edge of the Canadian penalty area, but it found a puddle and stopped in its tracks, before Jaedyn Shaw pounced on it and beat Sheridan to make it 1-0. After a slow and frustrating match for both sides looked to be nearing its end, Jordyn Huitema scored an equalizer for Canada in the 82nd minute, heading the ball past Alyssa Naeher after a cross into the box from Ashley Lawrence.

In extra time, Sophia Smith thought she broke Canadian hearts with a calm finish to beat Sheridan after collecting a header over the Canadian backline, but Adriana Leon tied it up again in the 127th minute, beating Naeher from the penalty spot after the American goalkeeper collided with Vanessa Gilles while trying to punch away a cross into the box. It was Leon’s tournament-leading sixth goal in five matches.

Naeher was the hero for the United States in the ensuing penalty shootout, saving three Canadian shots and (to the surprise of many) stepping up to take and score one herself. Canada were eliminated from the competition with the defeat, while the United States move on to play Brazil in the final on Sunday.

Three Observations

Waterlogged pitch causes problems all night

The story of Wednesday night’s match was unfortunately the condition of the pitch more than the performances of the players, with many arguing that the match should not have been played at all on the rain-soaked grass at Snapdragon Stadium.

Sometime between warmups and kickoff, the skies opened up in San Diego, and drenched the pitch to the point where the ball wasn’t bouncing or rolling along the ground in the way that it should. Across most of the pitch, puddles were forming that prevented any kind of real movement on or off the ball.

Players were slipping every few minutes, sometimes sliding several feet along the wet surface. Canada was both on the positive and negative ends of many such moments, especially in the first half. Twelve minutes in a Trinity Rodman breakaway was halted thanks to a great tackle from one of the puddles, swallowing up the ball as Rodman overran it and one of the Canadian defenders was able to get back and clear it away. 

On the first American goal, however, Vanessa Gilles tried to play a pass back to Kailen Sheridan, but the ball again slowed down in a puddle, and Jaedyn Shaw was able to take advantage to open the scoring. Gilles would redeem herself later in the game, clearing a shot on target off the line in the 90th minute, and winning the penalty deep into stoppage time that would lead to Adriana Leon’s 127th-minute equalizing goal.

GOAL 🇺🇸

The #USWNT take a 1-0 lead over the #CanWNT after some well-worked build-up play and yeah no this is just so, so awful… 😔 pic.twitter.com/ZIWeiiv2oM

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) March 7, 2024

Jade Rose was one of the players that adapted well to the conditions, and at one point in the first half creatively flicked the ball up to herself before volleying it down the pitch instead of trying to kick it directly off the soaked ground.

When asked after the match if it should have gone ahead, interim United States head coach Twila Kilgore said “probably not”, but reminded the media that the decision to play was of course not hers, and was the responsibility of the match officials. Her Canada counterpart Bev Priestman agreed with both sentiments.

“I think it’s obvious that the game was unplayable,” Priestman said. “I feel most concerned about the players, we put in a lot of work in a game plan and within minute one it’s thrown out the window and you play the game that’s in front of you. I feel for the players, because we’ve spent a lot of time on the pitch, off the pitch, preparing a game plan to beat the US in what we know and but I think the the pitch changed the game.

“That’s out of our control and I think we played the game in front of us. We really took our game to the US, or the adaptive game plan to the US, and I’m just super proud of the players. I couldn’t ask any more from them and it’s a step forward that’s for sure.”

Canada battle back twice, but fall short on penalties 

Winning penalty shootouts at a major tournament is something Canada has enjoyed in the not-so-distant past, beating Brazil and Sweden at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to win the gold medal just three summers ago. They could not recreate that magic on Wednesday night, however, losing to the United States.

It took a huge effort just to get to penalties from the Canadians, who twice fought back from a late deficit to extend the game. Jordyn Huitema scored a great header from an Ashley Lawrence cross in the 82nd minute, tying things up at 1-1 and sending the match to extra time, where Sophia Smith opened the scoring for the Americans nine minutes in.

Adriana Leon scored a penalty deep into the extra period to send the match to a shootout, burying her tournament-leading sixth goal into the back of the net after Vanessa Gilles was fouled by Alyssa Naeher.

It was impressive resilience from the Canadians, who never backed down from a high-profile fight against the host Americans, and nearly pulled off the upset.

Leon couldn’t score in the first round of the shootout for Canada, however, and Jordyn Huitema missed Canada’s second shot as well. Sophia Smith scored in the opening round for the Americans, but Korbin Albert sent her shot over the crossbar. In the third round, goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher surprised many by taking a penalty, beating her Canadian counterpart Kailen Sheridan to extend the lead, before Quinn (who made their 100th appearance for Canada after coming off the bench) beat her to reduce the deficit to 2-1.

The fourth and final round was a battle of the two captains. Lindsey Horan scored her penalty to make it 3-1, before Jessie Fleming’s effort was saved by Naeher, sealing an American victory. Other than Quinn’s goal, none of the Canadian penalties in the shootout were struck particularly well, and they bowed out of the tournament as a result.

“To be fair, the saves that were made were very good,” Bev Priestman said after the match. “We’ve actually practiced a lot of penalty kicks but on the night there’s nerves, there’s a full stadium, and do people change this spot based on what the keeper does? These are all the things. Then you go and ask [Adriana Leon] to take two, one in open play and then does she change a spot?

“It’s penalties, we were on the good side of them before, we were on the bad side of them today, but it’s a great reflection in terms of the process for us. We’ve done a lot of work on it but this is why we’re at this tournament, so we can learn from that and grow.”

Canada take a step forward as a team as Olympics draw nearer

While a major tournament in its own right, the Concacaf W Gold Cup also served as crucial preparation for Bev Priestman’s team ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this summer.

Continuing to develop their relatively new 3-4-3 formation, despite missing some key players through injuries and retirements, Priestman’s side were the best team in the tournament during the group stage, dominated and eventually won a tough quarter-final against Costa Rica, and were a couple of penalties away from beating their biggest rival in a shootout at the end of a gruelling semi-final.

Missing out on silverware is disappointing for a team with such high expectations, but the team certainly took a step forward on the pitch, as well as off the pitch as new leaders start to emerge — led by new captain Jessie Fleming.

“I’ve been super, super proud of the group,” Priestman said after the match. “We’ve lost some critical veteran players who’ve moved on and I’ve seen this group thrive and grow some immense leadership on the pitch tonight in some testing moments that a younger team could have crumbled. Simi [Awujo], Jade [Rose], Olivia [Smith] — you’ve got young players in this team who come in and had a major impact in the game. 

“I think the fact that we came back twice, that’s the belief, and I think this team feels like it’s taken a step forward and we’re on our way. We know where we need to get to and tonight was a different experience, but it was an experience that we can draw on to help in our journey towards the Olympics.”

POST-GAME INTERVIEW 🎙️

Hear from #CanWNT GK Kailen Sheridan following her team's shootout loss to the #USWNT

"It feels pretty crappy… we came out here really prepared and obviously there were some things that were really out of our control." pic.twitter.com/SMP8Mv7yAX

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) March 7, 2024

Those players, and others like Gabrielle Carle, really took advantage of their opportunities to play significant minutes at the tournament, giving Priestman a selection headache going forward as others hopefully return from injury.

It’s a good problem to have, but with the Olympics requiring a tight 18-player squad as opposed to 23, some difficult decisions need to be made in the coming months.

“It’s been a really good tournament,” Priestman said. “There’s five players in Nichelle [Prince], Jayde Riviere, Sydney Collins, Janine [Beckie], Desiree Scott, you know, some players. I don’t know how I’m gonna get this team to 18, but I’ve learned a lot more about the team, the makeup of the team, the mindset of the team.

“I think the actual tournament itself in terms of preparing for an Olympic Games, it’s mirrored that tight turnaround tournament play. What we know is you win game five [and] you’re in a final of an Olympics, and so we almost did that tonight but yeah, the tournament’s been great.”

Next up for Canada is the SheBelieves Cup, where Canada will take on Brazil in the semifinal on April 6, and one of the United States or Japan in either the final or third place game a few days later.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Alyssa Naeher, United States

The American goalkeeper gave up the penalty in extra time that Adriana Leon converted to extend the match, but in the shootout saved three shots and scored one herself to send the States through to the final.

What’s next?

Next up, the United States will play Brazil in the Concacaf W Gold Cup final, on Sunday night at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. Canada is back in action next month at the SheBelieves Cup, and will open their tournament against the Brazilians on April 6 in Atlanta. Both matches will be available to watch live on OneSoccer.