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Cloé Lacasse runs with the ball in a Concacaf W Gold Cup match against El Salvador. (Photo: Concacaf)
MATCH ANALYSIS: Lacasse leads the way as Canada beat El Salvador in Concacaf W Gold Cup opener
2024-02-23
by
Benedict Rhodes, CanPL.ca Contributor (@BTFR17)
Canada Soccer CANWNT National Teams

Final Score: Canada 6-0 El Salvador
Goalscorers: Lacasse 3′, Huitema 24′, Leon 28′, 59′ (pen), Buchanan 62′, Smith 86′
2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup
Group Stage — Matchday One

Match Recap

Canada kicked off their 2024 schedule with a bang on Thursday night, beating El Salvador 6-0 in their first match in Group C at the Concacaf W Gold Cup.

Les Rouges wasted no time at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, putting pressure on the Salvadoran defence from the opening kickoff. Cloé Lacasse found the back of the net after just three minutes, receiving the ball on the right wing before cutting to the left, setting her feet, and taking a shot that took a deflection before bouncing over goalkeeper Idalia Serrano, and into the net.

In the 14th minute, Gabrielle Carle came close to doubling the lead, running onto a perfectly-weighted through ball from Quinn, but sending the shot wide of the far post with a left-footed effort.

Brenda Cerén gave Canada a scare moments later, getting in behind their backline, but her shot was right at Sabrina D’Angelo, who got down to catch it with ease. That was about as close as El Salvador would come on the night, outshot 24-3 and mostly forced to defend for 90 minutes.

Twenty minutes after Lacasse opened the scoring, Canada found two goals in five minutes to triple their lead, with the Arsenal forward setting up goals for both Jordyn Huitema and Adriana Leon. On the first one, Lacasse chipped the ball across the penalty area from the goal line, where Huitema was on the spot to redirect it goalward, into the bottom left corner.

Leon made it three moments later, sprinting up the pitch to receive a lateral pass from Lacasse before calmly passing it into the open goal to finish a quick counter attack from the Canadians — sprung forward by a long forward pass along the ground from Huitema that split a pair of defenders.

The first half would end with Canada up 3-0, but not before Nichelle Prince was forced out of the game with a calf injury just before the break, replaced by Deanne Rose. There was no immediate update on the severity of the injury after the match.

Adriana Leon made it four for Canada in the 59th minute, converting from the penalty spot for her second goal of the game after Elaily Hernandez blocked a cross into the box from Julia Grosso with her arm. Kadeisha Buchanan continued the onslaught three minutes later, heading the ball home from an Olivia Smith corner to make it 5-0.

With time running out in the second half, Smith wrapped up a dominant performance for Les Rouges, scoring her first senior goal for Canada. The 19-year-old sprinted through a crowd of defenders to collect a pass forward from Lacasse, before slotting it past Serrano to make it 6-0.

With the victory, Canada sit top of Group C at the Concacaf W Gold Cup, on goal difference, with two matches left in this round of the competition.

Three Observations

Lacasse stakes claim to permanent spot in the starting lineup

It took her a long time to break into the Canadian women’s national team, but since her debut in 2021 Cloé Lacasse has increasingly proven that she deserves a greater role with the national team. While starts haven’t always been easy to come by, Lacasse left no doubt against El Salvador that she is one of Canada’s most important players, scoring the opening goal of the match and setting up three more for her teammates.

Lacasse got the scoring underway with a goal in just the third minute, running onto a pass up the right flank, cutting to the left, and beating Idalia Serrano with a shot that took a deflection and bounced over the Salvadoran goalkeeper. Throughout the match Lacasse played on both flanks, both as a wingback and further up the pitch in the forward line, in a well-rounded performance.

She set up Canada’s second and third goals as well, first with a chipped cross into the danger zone in front of the net for Jordyn Huitema to tap in, before making an lung-busting run up the field a few minutes later to set up an easy finish for Adriana Leon. She added another assist late in the second half, playing the ball forward for Olivia Smith’s first international goal at the senior level, making it 6-0 for Canada.

Her pace and dribbling on the right wing was too much for El Salvador to handle, and when she switched to the left wing after Deanne Rose came off the bench, there were no answers for Lacasse on that side either. It’s those skillsets, especially on counter-attacks like for Leon’s first goal, that should make her an indispensable member of the squad.

While she also has yet to establish herself as a regular starter at Arsenal, Lacasse clearly has the quality to be a star at the highest levels of the sport, and will be looking to have a strong end to the Women’s Super League campaign, before attention turns fully to the national team and the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

Cloé Lacasse runs with the ball in a Concacaf W Gold Cup match against El Salvador. (Photo: Concacaf)

Smith scores first senior goal in impressive second half off the bench

After a strong start to her professional career with Sporting CP in Portugal, Olivia Smith was rewarded with a call-up to Canada’s squad for the Concacaf W Gold Cup, and showed exactly why against El Salvador. Smith came off the bench at halftime, replacing Gabrielle Carle at left wingback, but later in the half found herself on the right side as well and, at times, much higher up the pitch.

A highly-touted prospect after a standout career with the youth national teams, the 19-year-old showed off her composure on the ball, dribbling around multiple defenders on several occasions. She was also given set piece duty for most of her 45 minute shift, with the exception of Adriana Leon taking the penalty for Canada’s fourth goal. She served up a few dangerous crosses and free kicks into the box, including picking up an assist from a corner on Kadeisha Buchanan’s goal to make it 5-0.

Smith found the back of the net herself in the 86th minute, scoring Canada’s sixth and final goal. She passed the ball to Marie-Yasmine Alidou, who then played it to Lacasse as Smith charged toward the penalty area, through a crowd of bodies. Lacasse’s through ball reached the feet of Smith, who proceeded to curl a shot around Salvadoran goalkeeper Idalia Serrano for her first international goal at the senior level.

“The moments that I found the most exciting was when people brought their personality,” said Bev Priestman after the match. “You think of Cloé [Lacasse] travelling with the ball, Olivia Smith rolling inside the pitch and playing little slip balls. When we can really do that, I think we unlock a lot of things.

“I always love seeing kids come in and doing well, and Olivia deserved that through some club performances, but also what we’ve seen in training. Her set piece delivery, you could argue, was unstoppable.”

Canada start busy 2024 on the right track to greater success

Thursday night’s match ended in a 6-0 win for Canada, but it is important to remember that a dominant victory was the expectation coming into this match. While an impressive result like this is a great way to start the 2024 W Gold Cup, this was Canada’s first match of the year, and just the first building block in what they hope will be a successful year on the international stage.

Defending their Olympic gold medal, or at least reaching the podium in Paris this summer, is what everything is building up to in 2024 for Bev Priestman’s side, and the Canada head coach was quick to point that out in her press conference after the match that it was far from perfect for her team.

Canada showed signs of rust at times, making several sloppy passes to give away the ball and invite pressure when there shouldn’t have been any. They beat themselves in certain moments, in the first half especially, but were able to recover well and hang on to prevent any real damage.

“I think for me, you walk off frustrated and you actually need to enjoy winning more, because I think we have another level in us,” Priestman admitted. “I need to be patient with that in terms of growing through the tournament, and late arrivals and just getting some rhythm and things. But to get a clean sheet and have goals come across many scorers, I think five, we’ve got to be happy.”

Canada’s next match comes against Paraguay, who beat Costa Rica 1-0 earlier on Thursday, on Sunday. That will be another test, but also another match that Canada will be the favourites in. Growing into the tournament, as Priestman mentioned, is crucial as Canada looks to advance to the knockout rounds, where the expectation is to make a deep run into the tournament at the very least, and potentially win it all.

With the SheBelieves Cup coming up in April and the Paris 2024 Olympics rapidly approaching as well, players will be keen to not only win these games, but to book their own individual tickets to Paris in a limited 18-player squad.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Cloé Lacasse, Canada

Lacasse scored the winning goal three minutes into the match, and was a force to be reckoned with on the wings, setting up three more for her teammates.

What’s next?

Canada is back in action on Sunday (5 pm ET/2 pm PT), taking on Paraguay in their second W Gold Cup group stage match. El Salvador is in action as well later that night, taking on Costa Rica. 

All Concacaf W Gold Cup matches are available to watch live on OneSoccer.

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