With a 1:0 victory over New Zealand in Auckland today, Canada wrote a few firsts in the history books of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Canada posted the first-ever win in the new competition while Rachel Lamarre scored the first-ever goal, doing so in the 53^rd minute.

Canada’s 17-year old midfielder pushed her way up the centre before making her move in the box. She evaded two defenders and fired her shot past New Zealand’s goalkeeper Victoria Esson for the lone goal of the match.

It was Lamarre’s second international goal for Canada. The Montréal native previously scored in a 3:0 victory over Puerto Rico at the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship in Trinidad & Tobago.

At the other end of the pitch, Canadian goalkeeper Geneviève Richard posted her first international clean sheet. She made four saves in the historic victory. She could have come out after a collision in the 65^th minute with New Zealand’s Caitlin Campbell, but the girl from St-Bruno-de-Montarville kept her place in between the pipes.

New Zealand’s Rosie White created the first chance of the match with a shot in the seventh minute. She advanced down the right side and fired the shot on Richard.

Canada finally got its first shot on goal in the 19^th minute, but it was a chance just a minute later that nearly put Canada on the board. Tiffany Cameron centered the ball in the box before Nkem Ezurike headed the ball just wide of the net.

Cameron had another chance in the 35^th minute, but Esson dove to make the save on a good shot. Canada then had a free kick late in the first half, but the New Zealand wall was up to the task. It was Caroline Szwed who took the shot from just outside the box.

While the possession was pretty even between both teams in the first half, Canada had the upper hand with four shots to one over the hosts. The score, however, remained 0-0. So in the second half both teams worked on their attack in search of the first goal. Right away in the 47^th minute, Lamarre had a chance to score, but with her back to the net her back heel was just off target.

Three minutes later, off a New Zealand corner kick, Sarah McLaughlin nearly scored the opening goal with her head. It wasn’t meant to be, however, for the hosts and their 13,123 fans at North Harbour Stadium.

Down a goal after Lamarre’s opening marker, Caitlin Campbell almost evened the score in the 70^th minute with a free kick from 30 metres out. Her shot, however, hit the crossbar and went over the net.

Canada also had its chances to double the lead late in the game. Once again, Lamarre led the attack, moving the ball into New Zealand’s box. In the box, however, the ball went everywhere but into the net, with even Annick Maltais hitting the crossbar.

New Zealand was desperate to score the equaliser late in injury time. Richard, however, stood her ground and punched out a corner kick. She then outplayed Hannah Wall on the last New Zealand attack, forcing her opponent to sail the ball over the crossbar.

Coach Bryan Rosenfeld got the result he wanted with a new starting XI. Six of the 11 started had played in at least eight international matches. He kept that lineup together until the 62^nd minute at which point Julia Ignacio replaced Shelina Zadorsky. Seven minutes later, Alyscha Mottershead entered as a substitute in place of Nkem Ezurike. Then in the 78^th minute, Canada made its final change, bringing in Annick Maltais for Tiffany Cameron.

This was the first-ever match between Canada and New Zealand at the U-17 level. At the U-20 level, these two countries most recently played to a 1:1 draw at the Torneo 4-Naciones in Chile. At the senior level, Canada has a record of 4-2-1 against New Zealand.

Canada will continue its journey at New Zealand 2008 this Saturday 1 November when it faces South American champions Colombia. The two sides will meet Saturday 1 November at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland. The match kicks off at 13.00 local time, which translates back home to 20.00 ET or 17.00 PT on Friday 31 October. The match will be streamed live on cbcsports.ca.