AC Lang’s Womxn’s Soccer Round Up

Welcome back to the Canadian Woso Roundup written by AC Lang of wsoccer.ca! As always, this roundup aims to increase the visibility of Canadian womxn in soccer. We’re back to the usual format; Three September Highlights, League in focus: Bundesliga (GER), Local Footy: Coast to Coast Usports Update, and CanXNT/YNT News. It’s been a busy month, with 83 Canadians kicking off their European seasons, the NWSL wrapping up the regular season, uni/college soccer athletes hitting their stride, and don’t forget about the CanW17 roster drop ahead of the World Cup, or the CanXNT friendlies vs Australia, and the roster ahead of friendlies vs Argentina and Morocco in October.

Three Highlights Gilles to OL

It’s always a good day when a Canadian player transfers to the best club team in the World. Mid-month, it was announced that CanXNT CB Vanessa Gilles would join Olympique Lyon on loan from Angel City FC (no buy option) until Summer 2023. While it came as a bit of a shock, given Gilles apparent enjoyment of the ACFC environment, it’s viewed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the 26-yo Canadian. The Ottawa, ON native will miss early parts of the OL season due to the injury which has seen her sidelined since August. We wish her a speedy recovery and all the best with OL. Given their current injury crisis at CB, she should get solid minutes with OL, including in the Champion’s League. She returns to France only a few months of being in LA, having joined the NWSL side in the Spring after three successful seasons at Bordeaux. This wraps up a truly meteoric rise Gilles since early 2021 when she first became known with the XNT thanks to a legendary performance against the USA in the She Believes Cup. Even more impressive, when considering that she only started playing soccer competitively at age 16.

North London and Merseyside derby draw crowds of 60+k

The North London Derby, between Arsenal and Tottenham, is one of the foremost rivalries in English football. The two clubs have a bitter rivalry that naturally extends to their women’s teams as well. This year, the stage was bigger than in year’s past, the game drawing a WSL record audience of just about 48,000 fans. At the center of it all, was CanXNT’s own hypewoman, Shelina Zadorsky, long-time captain of the Tottenham Hotspur. It was epic to see Shelina put on a classically solid performance, doing her best to keep Arsenal’s attack at bay. Despite a strong performance by Z, the Spurs were outclassed by a clinical Vivianne Miedema and co., ultimately falling 4:0. Later that day, another Canadian found herself at the center of it all in the Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool (over 27k fans was good enough for 4th highest attendance all-time). Lifelong Liverpool fan, Rylee Foster, from Cambridge, ON, who is still recovering from a serious neck injury, appeared as a pundit on Sky Sports. You love to see Canadians involved in these types of historic events. 103

Huitema and Quinn win the shield, Canadians in the playoffs October is playoff month in the NWSL, meaning that the final weeks of the season in September were more chaotic and exciting than ever. This season, the table is tighter than ever, with only a few points differentiating first and 6th place. The NWSL truly is one of the more competitive leagues out there, with no team clinching playoffs, until the second last matchday. The last two spots actually came down to the final matchday. In keeping with the consistent trends of Canadians thriving in the NWSL, 9 of 15 players made it to the playoffs, with one still in the running at the time of writing. The first two teams to clinch were the Thorns and the Reign, two of Canada’s favourite teams. Rhian Wilkinson and Karina Leblanc, both in their first seasons in charge as Thorn’s head coach and GM, respectively, were on track to win the Shield until the final game, tying 3:3 with Gotham. Just a bit further North, Quinn and Huitema played significant roles in their Shield-winning final game, Huitema scoring one (assisted by Quinn) and assisting Rapinoe’s eventual winner. Both teams will have a first-round bye. Rounding out the Canadians are Keeper of the Year candidate Kailen Sheridan from expansion team SD Wave, Desiree Scott who anchored KC’s midfield all season, and the Dash’s Canadian trio of Chapman, Prince, and Schmidt. Chicago’s Bianca St Georges is the final Canadian who could make a playoff appearance if Chicago wins tomorrow, but would miss the first game due to suspension for flipping the double bird at the referees last match.

Bundesliga

This one’s special for me, as someone who was born in Germany, and spent 3 seasons there, aged 16-18. Truthfully, in the three years of living there when I was a teenager, I only saw one Frauen Bundesliga game. Despite being one of the longest-running women’s football leagues in the world (founded in 1990), it is not one that was massively attended or watched at the time (20102013). The game I attended was an 1. FFC (Erste Frauen Fussball Club) Frankfurt match, who were one of the foremost women’s clubs at the time. They were 6x UWCL Finalists from 2002-2015, winning four titles, good for second place all-time. The game was played at a modest facility, in front of maybe 1000 fans, which seemed like a poor turnout, even for the time. Fast forward to 2022, Germany is slowly beginning to embrace the women’s game. For a soccer-obsessed culture, one that is steeped in misogyny and extremism to this day, it took a long time to get here. Despite producing some of the world’s best players and teams, German women had an uphill battle to get to this point. The good news is that the opening game of the Bundesliga, played in my former hometown, drew over 20k fans, for the first time ever. Buoyed by a second-place at this year’s historic Euro’s I hope the league is finally poised to reach new heights. The league, called FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, has been elite from the beginning, but since the interest and investment of major men’s clubs like Bayern, Frankfurt, Hoffenheim, and Wolfsburg in the mid 2010’s German women’s soccer has been setting the pace in Europe alongside France and England. Bayern and Wolfsburg have been perennial champions and runners-up over the last decade. Top players like Vivianne Miedema, Melanie Leupolz, and Dzennifer Maroszan have broken through in Germany to move on to bigger environments like Lyon, Arsenal, Chelsea, and OL Reign. That being said, the league is still not considered 100% professional. Many players continue to pursue second careers, not able to earn enough to live off their football careers.

In terms of Canadian content, it’s been rather sparse over the past five years or so. Previously, Sophie Schmidt had been the biggest profile Canadian in the league, playing with Frankfurt from 2015 to 2018. More recently, Sura Yekka played with Duisburg in 2020, before moving to France. Considering the tactical and technical strength of the German system, a bit of a shame, which is why it’s heartening to see that four Canadians signed in the first and second Bundesliga this summer. The most notable signing was Sonia O’Neill, a Toronto-native who represents Venezuela at the international level. She linked up with first division side Turbine Pottsdam, also a historic team in the league (6x league Champions). The veteran 28-yo defender moves to Germany from Croatia. Two Canadians signed in the second league, which is split into two divisions. Both of them are Canada West Usports standouts; Bella Rocque (TWU-alumni) and Samantha Savoy (UFV alumni). They line up for SC Sand and Ingolstadt, respectively. Last but not least, one Canadian entered in the youth system, and that’s Christine Eiblmeier, the Ottawa, ON native, who signed with FC Bayern’s youth team.

How to Watch

The best way to watch the Bundesliga is a paid Ata Football account (atafootball.com). This will allow you to view select top matches, especially Bayern and Wolfsburg games, where you can see top German stars Popp, Magull, Gwinn, alongside internationals Stanway, Pajor, Kumagai and many more. This will cost you about $7 USD / month or $60 for the year. In terms of English language coverage, we recommend following the ata social accounts, as well as individual teams and players as desired. You can also catch highlights on DFB TV (https://tv.dfb.de/) or Youtube.

Local Footy: Usports Coast to Coast

The first half of the Usports season was played throughout September, top teams and players emerging among the 54 schools. Let’s go coast to coast with this one. Starting on the East Coast, the AUS title race is tight, with perennial winners Cape Breton currently leading the pack. The #9 ranked Caper’s Alliyah Rowe leads the league in shots (22) and goals (5), in only five games. Defensively, CBU is equally solid, with zero goals against in their five wins. Chasing them are StFX (12 points), Dalhousie (11 points), and last year’s champions Acadia (9 points). StFX in particular is thriving with four players scoring three or more goals (Smith, Steen, Crichton, Cole). As AUS action continues this month, keep an eye on the race for playoffs. Now over to Quebec’s RSEQ, where a two-horse race is beginning to emerge between Laval and Montreal. The #7 and #5 nationally -ranked teams met once in early September, Montreal winning 1:0, with the away game scheduled for early October. The talent in Quebec continues to shine in the RSEQ University Division. The ageless wonder Megane Sauve, Montreal’s veteran forward, has four goals and two assists already. Lea-Jeanne Fortin is Laval’s leading player, bagging 5 goals and 3 assists in 8 games. Beyond the top teams, UQAM and McGill are in the playoff conversations. In other good Quebec soccer news, CF Montreal finally hired Amy Walks to take charge of girls and women’s development at the club. The hope is to see a youth team sooner rather than later, perhaps as early as this Fall. The OUA remains competitive in both divisions. You can find two in-depth articles about the 2022 WSOC season at 49sports. To summarize in only a few sentences, #4 ranked Queen’s remain unbeaten after 7 games, winning 5 and keeping up with the top three trio with #3 Ottawa and Toronto. An early Rookie of the Year candidate in Seema Sakran (8G, 3A) complements a dangerous Queen’s group (most goals - 32). Ottawa’s own Cassandra Provost is lighting it up, too, with 10 goals in 8 games. Karly Hellstrom has been the standout for U of T (3G, 5A). In the West, Western leads the way, with 7 wins, including a big one over Guelph at the end of September. Speaking of, Guelph and York are in pursuit of the Mustangs, rounding out a competitive top three. Standouts have been Olivia Brown and Hannah Vickers (both 6G).

Last but certainly not least, Canada West is arguably the strongest division in the country, with four nationally ranked teams in UBC, Trinity Western, MacEwan, and Calgary. #1 and 2 ranked UBC and TWU have a formidable women’s soccer rivalry, spanning decades. They are joined by Albertan strongholds in Calgary and Edmonton, who have both challenged for titles over the last few years (1 Usports Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Canada West Gold between them). In terms of standout players, look no further than the 2nd- to 4th- leading scorers in Canada (Steer, Tolnai, Wardrope) and the best assister in the Country in Rachel Barlow (7A, 5G). Beyond individual stats, one of the coolest storylines out of Canada West this Fall was UBC’s huge crowd at their Frosh Week game, totaling over 3,400 fans, which made for an epic backdrop for UBC’s 4:0 win over UVic.

CanXNT/ CanYNT News Let’s round all this out with CanXNT/YNT news. The senior team started off the month with two wins in Australia thanks to two world-class displays by Adriana Leon (3G), and Jade Rose (1A). The 1:0 and 2:1 wins presented a good challenge and test run ahead of the World Cup. Two debutants Clarissa Larisey (Celtic) and Simi Awujo (USC) got their first minutes, with the 19-yo Awujo looking particularly strong in attacking midfield. Later in the month, the CSA announced two more friendlies against Argentina and Morocco in the October window. The squad dropped late in the month was a familiar one, with most big names included. Unfortunately, Carle, Riviere, Gilles and D. Rose miss out due to injury. Lawrence, Sinclair, and Yekka were included, but are questionable to play many minutes, also related to an injury. Larisey and Awujo were called in again, as well as Zoe Burns, but most notably, Evelyne Viens returns to the squad. “I have been trying to work on different areas of my game, working with the coaches on my finishing, my touch, my creativity, my confidence, the mental side of the game, it has been great." - Ev Viens via RC Sports This rounds out a solid few months for Ev since being left out of the CONCACAF squad. Fresh off a hat-trick + assist performance for KDFF, she also renewed her contract until 2024, the Swedish club eager to keep their 20-goal striker. Coach Priestman also noted her recent form during a press conference and hinted that their recently adjusted system will benefit Viens as a number 9. “You can see she’s a number nine scoring with confidence now. I also think the shift in the system that we introduced in Australia really complements Évelyne as an out-and-out nine, too.” - Bev Priestman on Viens Finally, the Canadian U17s are headed to India to compete in the World Cup. Their group stage opponents include France, Japan, and Tanzania. Their roster includes the regulars like Zoe Markesini, Clare Logan, Ella Ottey, Izzy Monck, and Amanda Allen, however, star striker Rosa Maalouf misses out due to injury. The competition will be tough for Canada, but the hope is that they can steal a point or three from either Japan or France. The Canadians play on October 12th, 15th, and 18th. All games will be available to view on TSN.