Lawrence disappointed with early Team Canada World Cup elimination

Written By JAKE COURTEPATTE

With the disappointment of the 2015 Women's World Cup in the rearview mirror, Ashley Lawrence and her Team Canada teammates had their eyes solely set on the road ahead of them heading into the 2019 rendition in France.

“We know to be number one, we have to beat the top teams at the World Cup and I think that's a great representation of that,” the fullback and Caledon native said in a press conference prior to Canada's knockout stage game against Sweden. “The pressure is something that's there, but it's not something that is impacting us in a negative way.”

Yet it was deja-vu for the fifth-ranked Canadian squad, who fell last week in the Round of 16.

“We knew that the result was on the line,” said Lawrence in a postgame press conference. “We knew that it was just about the details, like creating chances, and we did create them. We just couldn't put them in the back of the net.”

A Christine Sinclair miss on a penalty kick in the 52nd minute proved to be the game changer in an otherwise tightly-defensive matchup, as the Swedes found the back of the net just over one minute later.

Canada pressed late in the match for the equalizer, leading in possession by a 60/40 factor in the second half, though came up short 1 – 0.

“Just getting that penalty was a big break for us, but we can't depend on that one moment,” said Lawrence. “I think just collectively we were fighting to the last minute, they just happened to score on their one chance. And we unfortunately didn't.”

Lawrence finished with one assist in the tournament, in which the Canadians finished second in their group with two wins and one loss before their meeting with Sweden.

Lawrence also took to her own Twitter account on Thursday following the match, saying that she “took some time to reflect” following the loss.

“Disappointed but still standing,” tweeted Lawrence. “I want to thank the supporters for being a constant on this journey with us. I'm so grateful to be a part of this team and represent Canada. We will come back stronger.”

Despite the loss, Lawrence added in her postgame conference that she was “proud of this team.”

“I think we are going to walk away taking away some learnings, that we could move forward with and hopefully take with us to the next major tournament.”

With the disappointing tournament behind her, Lawrence and her international teammates will now be looking towards competing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo next year, and improving on back-to-back bronze medal finishes at the Olympic Games.

As for now, Lawrence need only head down the block from the World Cup pitch to the home of her club team, Paris Saint Germain, where she recently signed on to play another season.