A 7-0 win on Saturday did the Sudbury Canadians no favours come the rematch less than 24 hours later.
Missing a handful of great chances to put the game away in the opening half on Sunday, the local ladies left the door open just enough for visiting Peterborough City. Down 2-0 at the half, Peterborough roared back to score a pair of second half markers, leaving Sudbury with at least a point after taking it on the chin in the opener.
"Yesterday, we played stronger as a team," noted 21 year-old Canadians' defender Tiffany Johnson. "Our passing was on. I think because we came out strong yesterday, we laid back a bit today and they played a lot better. All in all, we played not as great," Johnson added.
In game one, Sudbury used a five-goal outburst over the final forty minutes to put the contest away. Rachel Leck and Serena San Cartier scored two goals apiece to show the way, with Madison Beaudry, Karolyne Blain and Tamara Johnson rounding out the attack.
Keeper Ashley Bechard recorded the shutout. Leck and San Cartier were back on the scoresheet the next day, giving the homeside the early lead. The locals missed some great opportunities to put the contest out of reach, including a lovely cross from Blain, streaking down the right flank, which was punched away nicely by Peterborough netminder Emily Webb, just as San Cartier prepared to head the ball home.
Eventually, the offensive misfires would come back to haunt the Canadians. Valerie Andrew found a seam in the Sudbury back-line, slipping through and sliding the ball just past Bechard to narrow the gap to one.
Later in the half, Peterborough would take advantage of an indirect kick from roughly 35 yards out, far to the right. As the ball sailed into the box, it bounced twice, directly to Karly Howard who knocked it home with her noggin, deadlocking the encounter at 2-2.
Despite being the oldest player on the Canadians' roster this summer, Tiffany Johnson had no reservations about returning to the pitch yet again. "I love soccer," she said.
"I've been playing it since I was eight years old. It gets more and more competitive and it makes me stronger. I get better every year," she added. "There is continuous growth for me."
Once again this summer, the Canadians' lineup features a wide range of age of players, with grade 10 students mixed in with those already a couple of years into their post-secondary careers.
For Johnson, the interaction is nothing but positive. "I try and help the younger girls on the field, off the field," she stated. "What I have learned, I definitely pass on. We all learn from each other, because we all come from different backgrounds of soccer," Johnson said.
The weekend results leave Sudbury still in first place with a record of 6-0-2 (20 pts), four ahead of the Erin Mills Eagles (5-1-1), though the latter holds a game in hand.
The second half of the 2013 season will see the Canadians on the road for six of their final eight games, though a crucial two-game set with the Guelph Royals will take place on July 20th and 21st in Sudbury.
After suiting up for the opening few games with the Canadians, Cloe Lacasse has returned to Iowa for the summer. The graduate of Macdonald-Cartier will begin her third season with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes in the fall, having scored 25 goals at the NCAA level in her first two years.
Despite just entering her junior campaign, Lacasse is currently only one of three players in Hawkeyes history to be named as the team's Offensive Player of the Year in back to back seasons, also sharing team MVP honours in 2012.
