After splitting two test matches against England on the first leg of their U.K. tour, the Canadian Women’s National Team have gone undefeated in their first two games versus Wales, setting up the opportunity to win the test series on Wednesday.
“The main focus will be to ensure we finish what has been a very productive tour with another good performance,” says Women’s National Team head coach Ian Rutledge.
On Sunday, the Canadian women faced off against Wales for the first time and came out with a 2-1 victory thanks to a second half goal by Sara McManus (Tsawwassen, B.C.).
Canada opened the scoring in the seventh minute on a goal from Madeline Secco (Victoria, B.C), before Wales’ Alys Brooks tied the game in the thirty-second minute.
Tuesday’s match saw Canada lead for the majority of the game, after McManus scored again to open the scoring beating goalkeeper Margaret Rees in the twenty-fourth minute.
The pressure mounted from the Welsh as the game went on and in the second half, Canada was forced to go down to eight players for five minutes and nine for the final two.
With the advantage, Wales’ Leah Wilkinson capitalized in the final seconds on a penalty corner.
“Today’s game was a hard fought affair,” says Rutledge. “Despite the way the game ended, I was pleased with our team’s discipline and focus to stay on task and the eight players worked tirelessly to keep Wales out against all odds.”
Canada and Wales will play a third and final test match on Wednesday in Cardiff. Canada has a chance to win the series with a victory, while Wales will be looking to even it up. Canada enters the game with 1W-2D-1L in five games of their U.K. tour and will return home to Canada on Thursday.
“The last two games have given the team a chance to refine our play ahead of a seven week training block to finalize the final sixteen players for the Commonwealth Games and test out new combinations.”