The Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite Academy team are out of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Once again, this was supposed to be a learning experience for the young players. On Tuesday night, the teenagers got to learn and play against greatness.
Burnaby’s own Christine Sinclair played her final match in her home country. She and the Thorns came and took care of business against the Whitecaps.
Thorns too much to handle for Whitecaps
To start, Vancouver was in the game. They managed some good transitions and did look threatening.
Jaime Quanita Perrault got Vancouver’s only shot on target in the whole game. The forward made a good run down the wing and managed a shot from a tough angle. However, Thorns goalkeeper Shelby Hogan got her hands on it.
Early on, the Whitecaps were doing a good job of winning the duels. Jeneva Hernandez-Grey in particular, looked lively with her runs and passes. She even hit the post in the 22nd minute. Perrault made an excellent cross but Hernandez-Grey’s header just couldn’t beat the left post.
But the Thorns were more clinical. By the end of the first half, they were up 2-0 thanks to two goals from Izzy D’Aquila.
From there, the Thorns kept their foot on the gas.
D’Aquila was the woman of the match, not just for her two goals but she also got assists on the third goal by Peyton Linnehan, the fourth goal by Alexa Spaanstra and the sixth goal by Reyna Reyes.
The fifth goal got everyone at BC Place on their feet. It was scored by Sinclair. She just had to score in her final game in Canada. Even if she was on the opposing team, it was special to see her score.
End of the road
In the end, the game finished 6-0. The Thorns have moved onto the knockout stages and finish their group play with a 3-0-1 record.
As for the Whitecaps, this was the only the beginning for all of them. College and professional careers are ahead. They ended their CONCACAF W Champions Cup run with a 1-0-3 record but there were a lot of lessons learned.
The Northern Super League launches next season and who knows? Maybe some of the Whitecaps players will be playing in that league in the near future.
