The Canadian national U-17 soccer team, featuring North Vancouver's Rachel Jones, bowed out of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with a tough 3-2 loss against Venezuela in the quarterfinals March 27 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Canada briefly took the lead in the 40th minute of an entertaining first half but Venezuela equalized just three minutes later to make it 2-2 heading to the break. In the second half Venezuela got the go-ahead goal in the 62nd minute and then held off all Canadian attacks to secure their spot in the semifinals.
"If we look at what this is about, it's about the future and I think these girls have really paved a way for the expectation of how under-17 players should come through and move up our system," head coach Bev Priestman stated in a Soccer Canada release. "It's exciting to know that this can be achieved through the Canadian system."
Jones, a Sutherland secondary Grade 11 student and member of the Whitecaps elite youth team, started at fullback for Canada in the quarterfinal and played the entire match.
