She didn’t have the busiest day a soccer goalkeeper can have, but when called upon, North Vancouver resident Erin McLeod came through in a huge way Sunday at BC Place in the biggest Canadian soccer game ever played on home soil.
Canada’s 1-0 win over Switzerland in the playoffs of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup will likely remain the biggest game held on home soil for about four more days — just until the national team plays England in the World Cup quarterfinals Saturday, again at BC Place. The Canadians might not have made it this far, however, without McLeod’s incredible stop on a point blank shot in the waning minutes of Sunday’s match played in front of 53,855 fans.
Josee Bélanger made it 1-0 for Canada early in the second half, blasting a curling shot into the bottom left corner following a sublime setup touch from captain Christine Sinclair. The strongest Swiss response came with 12 minutes left when star forward Ramona Bachmann — who sent waves of terror though the Canadian supporters every time she touched the ball — shook her defender on the left flank outside the box with a sweet set of step-over dribbles before whipping in a dangerous cross. A Canadian defender whiffed on a clearance, causing the ball to skid all the way across goal on the six-yard line near the right post, right into the path of Switzerland’s Vanessa Bernauer who spun and fired what looked like a sure equalizer. Except it wasn’t, because McLeod hustled into proper position as the pass from Bachmann came in and then, when danger arouse, sprinted three steps to her left before stretching out completely to parry the shot harmlessly over the touch line. In the official stat report it was only her second save of the day, with no more to come, but it was nonetheless crucial.
After the save McLeod directed a mighty fist pump at the ball, and the Canadians went on to claim a famous victory — the first World Cup win for the team over a European opponent.
“I was pretty pumped,” she said after the match. “I was kind of embarrassed that I self-cheered so much during the game but overall I’m really happy with the way the team performed. I think in the second half especially we played like the Canada I know, and that’s going to show up a lot more in this tournament.”
McLeod obviously wasn’t the only one cheering her great play. The crowd, filled with hundreds of Maple Leaf flags, erupted after the save, as did the Canadian bench. After the game McLeod was named Player of the Match, earning praise from Team Canada head coach John Herdman.
“She’s just wonderful,” said Herdman. “That woman is world class. The best keeper in the world? I don’t know. But she’s got to be right up there. To just be on her game and concentrate — she didn’t have a great amount to do. She took some great crosses — that’s her biggest strength — but then to be sharp and alert. In two games now she’s done it for us, right at the death. That’s the mark of a great goalkeeper. Right at the death, the concentration is there and she’s out making a world class save. All credit to her — she’s doing her bit for our country.”
McLeod is also developing her own little cheering section here on the North Shore. The native of St. Albert, Alta., moved to North Vancouver last fall and since then she’s been busy making connections in the community, making appearances at local schools and working with young soccer players across the North Shore, including several sessions with the West Vancouver Soccer Club and with girls from the Squamish Nation.
That community work would likely come as no surprise to Herdman, who spoke about her leadership qualities with great admiration after the win over Switzerland.
“She’s one of our off-field leaders,” he said. “She’s connecting this group behind the scenes on an emotional level. She’s making those deeper levels of connection where it’s not superficial. The players genuinely, genuinely care about each other and she’s pushing that. She takes a lot of time and pride in a strong Canadian group.”
Whatever happens from now on for the Canadian team, they’ve already lived up to their pre-tournament billing. They came in as the eighth-ranked team in the world and now they’re one of the final eight left standing in the fight for the World Cup. And they’ve captured the country’s attention — Sunday’s attendance was the largest ever for a Canadian national team home game, men’s or women’s, in any sport.
“Walking out in front of 50-odd thousand people — I mean, who would’ve thought of that in women’s football,” said Herdman. “It was one of those surreal days for staff and players.”
McLeod, looking as calm and cool in a press conference as she did in the line of fire during the game, added that the players have more on their minds than just winning games at this World Cup.
“We’ve set even bigger goals: inspiring our country,” she said, although she also made it clear that they’re intent on winning this thing too.
“We want to go all the way,” she said. “I really believe in the women on this team and the staff to take us all the way.”
