Canada Soccer have announced their squad for the upcoming 2022 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, Canada’s qualification route for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022. Canada’s 20-player squad, coached by Cindy Tye, will compete from February 25 to March 12 for one of four berths to the global tournament.
The roster includes two graduates from the Whitecaps FC Girls Elite program in partnership with BC Soccer, a Canada Soccer National Development Centre (NDC). Fullback Mia Pante, now at Texas A&M university, and forward Holly Ward, now at the University of Texas, will don the Red & White.
Also a part of the team is Whitecaps FC BMO Academy Centre director Mike Ayyash, who joins the staff as a technical assistant.
From 20 remaining Concacaf nations, Canada are in Group G with matches against Saint Kitts & Nevis on February 25, El Salvador on February 27, and then Trinidad and Tobago on March 1. From Group G, three nations will advance to the knockout phase. Throughout the competition, fans will find extended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube featuring the hashtag #CANWNT.
This will be the first Concacaf youth tournament since the global pandemic that canceled tournaments in 2020 and 2021. Following the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship in February and March, Canada will compete in the Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship from April 23 to May 8 and then the Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship this summer.
Canada Soccer will continue to closely monitor all Covid-19 developments in consultation with the Public Health Agency of Canada and relevant governing bodies through the Canada Soccer Sport Medicine Committee to ensure the safety of all players and staff.
CANADA SOCCER’S WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
Canada are Olympic champions (Tokyo 2020), two-time bronze medal winners (2012 and 2016), and two-time Concacaf champions (1998 and 2010). In all, Canada have participated in seven consecutive editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ (1995 to 2019) and four consecutive editions of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (2008 to 2021). At Tokyo 2020, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team became the first Canadian team to win three consecutive medals at the Summer Olympic Games and just the third nation in the world to win three medals in women’s soccer.
Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Youth Teams, meanwhile, have won four Concacaf youth titles: the 2004 and 2008 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, the 2010 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship, and the 2014 Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship. Canada have qualified for seven editions of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (including a silver medal at Canada 2002) and all six editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (including a fourth-place finish at Uruguay 2018).
CANADA U-20
GK- Sierra Giorgio | USA / Syracuse University
GK- Anna Karpenko | USA / Harvard University
CB- Vivianne Bessette | USA / University of South Florida
CB- Brooklyn Courtnall | USA / University of Southern California
CB- Annika Leslie | USA / West Virginia University
CB- Jade Rose | USA / Harvard University
FB- Zoe Burns | USA / University of Southern California
FB- Mia Pante | USA / Texas A&M University
FB- Élisabeth Tsé | USA / Southern Methodist University
M- Simi Awujo | USA / University of Southern California
M- Vanessa Frelih | CAN / Super REX Ontario
M- Florianne Jourde | CAN / Super REX Québec
M- Keera Melenhorst | USA / University of Oklahoma
M- Nikayla Small | USA / Wake Forest University
M- Sonia Walk | USA / Boston College
F- Miya Grant-Clavijo | USA / Brown University
F- Kaila Novak | USA / UCLA
F- Olivia Smith | USA / Florida State University
F- Serita Thurton | USA / University of South Florida
F- Holly Ward | USA / University of Texas
TRAINING PLAYERS
GK- Coralie Lallier | CAN / Quebec REX/NDC
FB- Arianna Rose | CAN / Super REX Ontario
M- Thaea Mouratidis | CAN / Super REX Ontario
M- Lauren Rowe | CAN / Feildians AA St. John’s
