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CANW20 team walking to the field

Concacaf CANW20 team brimming with L1O stars

By League1 Ontario staff, 05/23/23, 12:15PM EDT

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Thirteen current or former League1 Ontario players have been called up to represent Canada in the Concacaf Women’s U20 Championship.

CANW20 players walk to the field

Nyah Rose, Amanda Allen, Ella McBride, Jadea Collin, and Renee Watson have all featured in L1O

Canada’s U20 women’s national team kickstart their bid for Concacaf glory and World Cup qualification tomorrow with a team full of League1 Ontario talent.

NDC Ontario duo Faith Fenwick and Noelle Henning are two of the three goalkeepers to have been called up. Both have featured twice so far in the Women’s Premier Division this season and were rotated in last year’s title-winning campaign, with Fenwick starring in the trophy final.

The reigning League1 Ontario Defender of the Year, Zoe Markesini, was a standout performer in 2022. She is also one of several NDC Ontario players who represented Canada in the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup last year and now making the step up to the U20 team; a list that includes Henning and Fenwick, Ella Ottey, Renee Watson, Kayla Briggs, and Amanda Allen who now plies her trade for Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League.

The L1O call-ups don’t end there. Ella McBride played 11 Premier Division regular-season games in 2022 and will link up with former NDC Ontario teammate Thaea Mouratidis, who made 13 appearances last year, as well as Jadea Collin who has featured three times for NDC Ontario this campaign.

Forwards Nyah Rose and Rosa Maalouf – who scored THAT goal in the Women’s Premier Division final – and multiple award-winning striker Olivia Smith bring plenty of attacking firepower to the side.

Smith scored 18 goals in 11 games for North Toronto Nitros last season and was chosen as the Women’s Premier Division’s Young Player of the Year, Forward of the Year, as well as being the league’s top scorer.

Canada face Jamaica on Wednesday, May 24 at 4PM ET in the first group game, and are up against Panama on Friday and USA on Sunday. Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic make up the other group.

The top three teams in the tournament (the two finalists and third-place playoff winner) will qualify for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in 2024.

Please click here to see all the players selected, and good luck to all the girls involved!

Olivia Smith cutting inside with the ball

Goal-threat Olivia Smith