Historic day for Canadian national teams

OTTAWA (ONTARIO) – It was a historic day for Canada’s national teams yesterday. Three teams – the men’s national team, the women’s national team, and the men’s U-20 team – all won international matches on Wednesday 6 June. It marked the first time that Canada’s national teams won three matches on the same day.
The Canadian women won 5:0 in Auckland, New Zealand, the Canadian men won 2:1 in Miami, FL, and the Canadian U-20 men won 4:0 in Kingston, ON. Both the women (against New Zealand) and U-20 men (against the United States) were playing the second match of a two-game international friendly series with their opponent. The men’s national team, meanwhile, were playing the opening match of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The women started the day (thanks to the time difference) with a 5:0 win over New Zealand, their second-straight win against the Kiwis. Amber Allen scored two goals while Christine Sinclair scored one goal and two assists. Just three days earlier, the Canucks defeated New Zealand 3:0 in the first game of the series, a match in which Christine Sinclair became the nation’s all-time leading goal scorer (she’s up to 73 goals after the two-match series). The women are currently preparing for the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007.
The U-20 men, meanwhile, were playing in the fifth game of the Hyundai men’s U-20 tour presented by Yahoo! Canada. Tosaint Ricketts scored early (just two minutes in) and he scored often (three goals). He became the first youth player in nearly 16 years to score a hat trick in international competition (Niall Thompson was the last on 7 July 1991). The 4:0 victory was a terrific turnaround after a 1:4 loss against the same U.S. squad on 3 June in Ottawa. The U-20 men are currently preparing for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007, a tournament that has already sold an amazing 750,000 spectator tickets before the tournament even begins.
The men opened the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup with an exciting 2:1 victory over Costa Rica. The Ticos scored first, but Julián de Guzman equalized just a minute later. Sixteen minutes after that, de Guzman scored again as the Canucks went ahead for good. The men now have two more games in the opening round of the tournament: Saturday 9 June against Guadeloupe and Monday 11 June against Haiti. Both matches will be televised on Rogers Sportsnet. The 9 June match will be televised at 16.00 PT / 17.00 MT / 18.00 CT / 19.00 ET / 20.00 AT while the 11 June match will be televised at 23.00 PT / 24.00 MT / 1.00 CT / 2.00 ET / 3.00 AT.