U.S. WNT and Canada Play to a 1-1 Draw

The U.S. Women's National Team played Canada to a 1-1 draw on Thursday night in front of a sellout crowd of 28,017 fans at BC Place in Vancouver. Alex Morgan of the U.S. and Adrianna Leon of team Canada scored the lone tallies for their respective counties in the hard-fought contest.

Canada brought the heat from the start, putting the USA under high pressure all over the field. However, the U.S. WNT would create the first dangerous opportunity of the night in the 11th minute when Megan Rapinoe's shot from the left side of the penalty area bounced off the inside of the right post and rolled across the front of the goal before being collected by a defender.

The USA would find the back of the net in the 31st minute of action to take the early lead. On the play, the U.S. WNT were putting the Canadian backline under a lot of pressure, and on the second clear attempt, Casey Short headed the ball back towards the center of the box. Morgan ran onto the ball, headed it over a defender and shot with her right foot while surrounding by defenders. The ball went past goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé and into the back of the net.

Lindsey Horan almost doubled the U.S. lead in the 39th minute with a free kick, her but attempt was pushed over the net by Labbé to preserve the one-goal margin. The score would remain 1-0 at the half.

The Canadians continued to play strong in the second half, and scored the equalizer in the 57th minute. The scoring sequence started with a corner kick, and the scramble in the penalty area eventually fell to Rebecca Quinn. Quinn's shot bounced off the cross bar, and was recycled by Sinclair when she redirected the ball towards the left post to a wide-open Leon. Leon poked the ball past USA netminder Alyssa Naeher to even up the score line.

Morgan had a chance to give the U.S. the lead again in the 76th minute, but her two attempts right in front of goal were blocked by Janine Beckie as both teams fought to a 1-1 stalemate.

The regional rivalry will continued on Sunday, Nov. 12 (6 p.m. PT, FS1) with the second match of the two-game set vs. Canada at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, Calif.

- U.S. Women's National Team Match Report -

Match: U.S. Women's National Team vs. Canada

Date: Nov. 9, 2017

Competition: International Friendly

Venue: BC Place; Vancouver, BC, Canada

Kickoff: 7 p.m. PT

Attendance: 28,017 (sellout)

Weather: Indoors

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F

USA 1 0 1

CAN 0 1 1

USA - Alex Morgan (Casey Short) 31st minute

CAN - Adrianna Leon (Christine Sinclair) 56

Lineups:

USA: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 5-Kelley O'Hara, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (capt.), 7-Abby Dahlkemper, 14-Casey Short (22-Taylor Smith, 66); 8-Julie Ertz (6-Andi Sullivan, 74), 9-Lindsey Horan, 3-Samantha Mewis (10-Carli Lloyd, 65); 12-Lynn Williams (20-Allie Long, 87), 13-Alex Morgan, 15-Megan Rapinoe (23-Christen Press, 66)

Subs not used: 24-Ashlyn Harris, 16-Emily Sonnett

Head coach: Jill Ellis

CAN: 1-Stephanie Labbe; 2-Allysha Chapman, 4-Shelina Zadorsky, 5-Rebecca Quinn, 6-Deanne Rose (19-Adrianna Leon, 31), 10- Ashley Lawrence, 11-Desiree Scott, 12-Christine Sinclair (capt.), 15-Nichelle Prince (20-Maegan Kelly, 71), 16-Janine Beckie (9-Jordyn Huitema, 90), 17-Jessie Fleming

Subs not used: 18-Sabrina D'Angelo, 21-Kailen Sheridan, 14-Jayde Riviere, 22-Lindsay Agnew, 23-Julia Grosso, 24-Ariel Young

Head coach: John Herdman

Stats Summary: USA / CAN

Shots: 11 / 19

Shots on Goal: 4 / 8

Saves: 7 / 3

Corner Kicks: 4 / 5

Fouls: 13 / 14

Offside: 2 / 1

Misconduct Summary:

CAN - Janine Beckie (caution) 59th minute

CAN - Maegan Kelly (caution) 79

Officials:

Referee: Marianela Araya Cruz (CRC)

Assistant Referee 1: Elizabeth Aguilar (SLV)

Assistant Referee 2: Kimberly Moreira (CRC)

4th Official: Melissa Perez (PAN)