Lacasse leads relentless offensive attack as Canada outclasses El Salvador

Victories by the Canadian women’s team don’t come much easier than this one. 

The reigning Olympic champions outclassed El Salvador in their opening contest of the Concacaf W Gold Cup, registering a 6-0 win on Thursday night. Ranked No. 10 in the world, Canada bossed and bullied 104th-ranked El Salvador all over the pitch at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium in its first game since Christine Sinclair’s international retirement at the end of last year. 

Cloé Lacasse scored and tallied three assists and Adriana Leon bagged a brace to lead the way for Canada in Group C play. Olivia Smith, Jordyn Huitema and Kadeisha Buchanan also found the back of the net for Canadians.

“The goals were coming from different places, which is always great… To get a clean sheet and have goals come across five players, we’ve got to be happy,” Canadian coach Bev Priestman told reporters after the win. 

Here are three takeaways from the game. 

Lacasse’s performance highlights Canada’s bristling attack 

Cloé Lacasse has been on the fringes of breaking into Canada’s starting 11 for quite some time now. The Arsenal forward has 30 caps to her credit since making her debut in 2021, but only 10 of those appearances have been as a starter. 

Her performance against El Salvador should give Bev Priestman something to think about as to whether she deserves more starting opportunities. Lacasse was the star of the show for Canada, scoring her fourth international goal and setting up three others. In doing so, she became the first Canadian player to record a trio of assists in a single game since 2020. 

Deployed on the right side of the midfield, Lacasse effectively linked up with fellow goal scorers Adriana Leon and Jordyn Huitema and routinely got in behind El Salvador’s back line.  

It was her swift-cutting move into the penalty area from off the wing that led to her opening the scoring in the third minute. Lacasse turned playmaker later in the half when she collected a pass down the right and then delivered a cross with two defenders on her to the edge of the six-yard box for Huitema to knock in past El Salvador goalkeeper Idalia Serrano.   

Canada added a third goal when Huitema’s through ball ripped open El Salvador’s back line. Lacasse let the ball run before playing a one-touch pass into the box for Leon to score into an empty net. Lacasse capped things off by setting up Olivia Smith’s goal late in the 86th minute. 

“I thought Cloé and Adriana Leon on that right-hand side in the early part of the game, it really came to life. You have two maverick-type players, dribblers who like to come off the page and that made it very difficult for [El Salvador] to deal with,” Priestman explained. 

Olympic champions display a ruthless streak for a change 

A longstanding criticism of this Canadian women’s team has been in lack of ruthlessness. Too often the Canadians have played down to their lower-ranked opponents, rather than going for it and putting their foot across their opponent’s neck to kill off the game when they had the chance. 

There was no sign of any of that in Houston on Thursday night. Although Canada sits 94 spots above El Salvador in the current FIFA world rankings, it didn’t sit back and play its way into the contest. Instead, reigning Olympic champions stormed out of the gate and set the tone very early on with their quick ball movement, intricate passing sequences and constant running. 

It took Canada only three minutes to open the scoring through Cloé Lacasse following some patient buildup play. Rather than sit on its laurels, Canada continued to press forward in search of more goals and were rewarded when Jordyn Huitema and Adriana Leon scored to give their side a comfortable 3-0 lead after 28 minutes. 

The lone blemish on Canada’s opening 45 minutes saw forward Nichelle Prince pull up with a calf injury just before halftime. She had to be subbed out and was replaced by Deanne Rose. Priestman made two more swaps at the start of the second half by bringing on Olivia Smith and Julia Grosso for captain Jessie Fleming and Gabrielle Carle.   

The changes didn’t slow down the Canadians in the least as they poured on the pressure after the restart by attacking in waves and pinning the Salvadorians deep inside their half. El Salvador wilted under the pressure as defender Elaily Hernández was called for a handball and Leon blasted the home the ensuing penalty kick.   

Smith’s corner kick was guided inside the far post via Kadeisha Buchanan’s powerful header to further pad Canada’s advantage. Smith’s brilliant performance off the bench was capped off with her first goal for Canada when she fired past Salvadorian goalkeeper Idalia Serrano from just inside the 18-yard box late in regulation time.  

Depth players come up big for Canadian team 

Canada came into this team somewhat banged up. Fullbacks/wingbacks Jayde Riviere and Sydney Collins were originally named to the Canadian squad. But injuries ended up forcing them out of the Gold Cup. Some players were also late arriving to the pre-tournament training camp due to their club commitments.  

Both of these factored into Bev Priestman’s team selection as she fielded a somewhat experimental lineup. Key starters such as centre back Vanessa Gilles, goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, fullback Ashley Lawrence and midfielder Julia Grosso all started on the bench, which gave starting opportunities to Gabrielle Carle, Beverly D’Angelo, Cloé Lacasse and Shelina Zadorsky. 

All of them contributed to the Canadian cause on the night. While Lacasse stole the show with her breakout performance, D’Angelo looked comfortable in stopping all three shots she faced, Zadorsky helped the back line keep its shape all night, and Carle looked solid on the left side of midfield 

Olivia Smith, still only 19, came off the bench at the start of the second half and helped take Canada’s attack into a higher gear. Playing in only her fifth game for Canada, Smith unbalanced El Salvador’s defenders with her dangerous movement with the ball and managed to get several good looks on goal. She finished the night by scoring her first goal and registering her first assist for Canada. 

Forwards by nature, Lacasse played as a right winger and Smith was used as a left wingback. Both took on their assignments without missing a beat on a night when Bev Priestman was short of natural options in those two positions. 

“They’ve stepped in a time of need…. If you ask any forward, they would prefer to play in the forward line. But their attitude to commit to the team was outstanding. They both made a massive contribution,” Priestman offered.  

John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.