BATON ROUGE – Star striker Christine Sinclair pulled a goal back before halftime when she stabbed home a mishandled save by England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley in the 42nd minute, but that was not enough to send the hosts into the semifinals at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup as Canada fell to England, 2-1, in Saturday’s quarterfinal match in Vancouver.
A quick-fire double from Jodie Taylor in the 11th minute and Lucy Bronze in the 14th minute was enough to send the Lionesses into the World Cup semifinals for the first time in their history.
With former LSU Tiger Allysha Chapman anchoring a Canadian back line surrendering just one goal in four matches at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup prior to Saturday’s quarterfinal, the hosts were confident for a return to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2003 when Canada earned its best finish of third place.
But not even the 54,027 fans in attendance at Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium could inspire their Maple Leafs to a second-half comeback as Canada pressured late but fell short of a place in Wednesday’s semifinal match to face defending champion Japan. England will now face Japan on Wednesday at 5 p.m. CT after the United States and Germany square off in the opposite semifinal on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT.
Chapman locked down the left back spot for Canada throughout this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup as she started and played the full 90 minutes in each of the team’s five matches through the quarterfinal round.
Chapman, a three-time All-SEC defender and the 2011 SEC Defensive Player of the Year during her time in Baton Rouge, has been an anchor of the Canadian defense since making her debut with the senior team in the fall of 2014. Saturday marked her 17th appearance and 15th start with her national team since making her debut on Oct. 25, 2014, in a friendly match against Japan.
Chapman’s professional career has also taken off after playing her final season with the Tigers in the fall of 2011. She was added to the Houston Dash’s squad this calendar year as an allocated national team player from her former club team Eskilstuna United DFF in Sweden. Chapman has made two appearances with two starts for the Dash in a limited club season due to her international duties.