Game report

On a hot and humid night in front of the largest crowd ever to see a woman's soccer match in Canada, the home team delighted the 9,023 fans with their usual gritty performance. The match was the 29th for Canada under head coach Even Pellerud, but amazingly, the first on Canadian soil. The near capacity crowd in 81-year-old Varsity Stadium saw one of the final soccer games there as the relic is scheduled for demolition in the fall.

The USA had more of the play in the opening minutes but Canada got on the board first. Kiss sent a free kick from the left wing into the U.S. penalty area where Neil headed in but Pagliarulo,'s save rebounded to Hooper who put it away.

In the 8th minute Canada lost its captain Amy Walsh with a possible broken leg. She came in with a late tackle with her Atlanta Beat teammate Cindy Parlow and had to be carried from the field.

The U.S. tied the game in the 28th minute after Hamm was fouled. She quickly kicked to MacMillan who beat a defender and hit a hard ground and into the net. Three minutes later MacMillan , drew a brilliant save from Swiatek as she flew to get a touch on the ball.

U.S. head coach April Heinrichs had the luxury of bringing three 2000 Olympians off the bench at halftime as she inserted Nikki Serlenga, Kristine Lilly and Tiffeny Milbrett, who would put the USA ahead in the 57th minute. Milbrett almost scored two minutes before that as Parlow put her through in the left side of the penalty area. Milbrett rounded Swiatek to the left, but pushed ball to far to the outside and Sharolta Nonen recovered to clear ball away.
There was no stopping Milbrett on her 84th international goal as Parlow freed her behind the Canadian defense. Milbrett caught Swiatek off her line and drilled a 32-yard dipping shot that stuck in the upper right corner of the net. Canada had an immediate answer and 18-year-old Christine Sinclair tied the game after some mixed up goalkeeping.
The matched ended in near darkness as the sun went down and the ancient lights of Varsity Stadium failed to provide adequate illumination, forcing the teams to play the final 15 minutes in dusky glow.

The USA played the last seven minutes of the game with 10 women as Kate Sobrero sprained her right ankle and had to leave the match. Heinrichs gave starts to 18-year-old Aleisha Cramer in the midfield and 19-year-old Catherine Reddick in the center of the defense and both youngsters performed admirably.

Post Game quotes
U.S. Head Coach April Heinrichs

You really have to tip your hat to Canada. They have two world-class strikers and enough speed all over the field, particularly at the back, to make it tough for us to get behind them. They really are believing in themselves.
It's commonplace for a team to score a goal and take a collective sigh of relief and it's a dangerous moment in the game. We were the ones that took that relief and it's disappointing that we would talk so often about that situation and have it happen again to us.

I'm fairly pleased with the way we played. We made wholesale substitutions and we were going to make them regardless of the score or the situation. I was pleased with some individual play, but we always want to find ways to win.

The U.S. has failed to defeat Canada in the last four meetings, going 0-2-2. The two teams meet again on Tuesday, July 3, at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn. in the second match of the Independence Day Series. The match kicks off at Noon CT and will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Other
U.S. captain Julie Foudy played in her 200th career match for the United States, joining Mia Hamm (217) and Kristine Lilly (226) as the only two players in the history of international soccer, men or woman, to reach that milestone.
"Regardless of what cap it is, you always want to win," said Foudy. "But you have to give credit to Canada. They played a good game and finished their opportunities."