Aug. 31, 2002
EDMONTON, Alberta – Notre Dame women’s soccer players Candace Chapman (Ajax, Ontario) and Katie Thorlakson (Langley, British Columbia) will play with the Canadian Under-19 National Team in Sunday’s title game of the first ever Under-19 World Championship – with that Sept. 1 showdown versus the United States to be shown live (2:00 p.m. mountain time) by Fox Sports World, in addition to continuing coverage in Canada by Rogers Sports Net (live stats also can be tracked at canadasoccer.com or ussoccer.com).
Canada advanced at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium after thrilling a massive crowd of 37,000-plus in Friday’s semifinal versus Brazil, a 1-1 tie that ended in a penalty-kick shootout. Kara Lang and Amy Vermeulen converted early PKs, with the decisive kicks (4-3) then coming from Christy Sinclair – the University of Portland star and a top player on Canada’s full national team – and Sasha Andrews.
The versatile Chapman played a key role in the semifinal win, when she was shifted from right back into the midfield in a tactical move to counteract the impact of Brazilian star Marta. Chapman also has started in midfield for Canada’s full national team but had been starting for the Under-19 squad at right back (where she played for the Irish as a freshman). Thorlakson has started most of Canada’s games in the attacking midfielder role, a position she also could play when starting her college career next week.
Both Irish players will miss Notre Dame’s next game (Sunday, versus Virginia Tech) but will be back on campus for next week’s Notre Dame Classic, which again includes one of the premier fields in all of college women’s soccer (No. 1 Santa Clara, No. 4 Portland, No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 14 Clemson). Three SCU players also are in Edmonton with the U.S. Under-19 team while Sinclair (the tournament’s leading scorer, with 10 goals) could add to the elite group of players at Alumni Field next week (unless she is called into training with Canada’s full national team). Another top player, SCU midfielder Aly Wagner, also is slated to play in the Notre Dame Classic after not being called into the upcoming U.S. National Team camp.
Canada scored moments before the halftime whistle in the semifinal versus Brazil, on a diving header by Clare Rustad (via a Melanie Booth corner kick), and Marta tied the game in the 69th minute (bringing on 30 minutes of scoreless overtime, when Sinclair missed a PK chance).
The U.S. advanced with a 4-1 semifinal win over Germany and owns a 25-2 scoring edge in the tournament, with Kelly Wilson (9 goals) challenging Sinclair for the “golden boot” scoring trophy.
Notre Dame freshman midfielder Annie Schefter was slated to be a starter for the U.S. but she was lost for the season with an ACL knee injury in late July.