Academy

Whitecaps FC head south to battle long-time rivals Seattle Sounders Women

Girls Seattle
WHITECAPS FC ROSTER
1 GK Gurveen Clair
18 GK Ally Williamson
21 D Aman Shergill
10 D Kathryn Baker
16 M Vanessa Kovacs
20 M Sabrina Santarossa
11 F Jenna Richardson
27 F Katie Krautner
8 F Summer Clarke
6 F Nikki Turney
2 D Meghan Douglas
26 D Hannah Carrothers
12 F Kelsey Smith
14 D Rachel Jones
3 D Simmrin Dhaliwal
4 M Sam Donald
17 M Jenna Baxter
19 M Alessia Azermadhi
15 F Sessen Stevens
9 F Seina Kashima
7 F Chelsea Harkins


Something about the history between Seattle Sounders Women and Vancouver Whitecaps FC makes every clash must-see entertainment. The latest rivalry showdown will take place tonight at 7 p.m. PT.


VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

The ‘Caps roster will primarily consist of players from the Girls Elite U-17/18 program who, for the most part, dominated the competition in the Metro Women’s Soccer League over the course of the past season. The Girls Elite squad held a record of 15W-1L-1D during the regular season with an eye-popping +67 goal differential. Unfortunately, the Blue and White were upset in the playoffs, falling 2-0 to Richmond FC in their attempt to defend their 2013 Metro Women’s Soccer League Cup title.

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<b>2013 Highlights: Sounders Women 0-0 Whitecaps FC&nbsp;</b>

The club has enlisted the help of some notable Whitecaps FC alumnus to help take on Seattle.  The headliners include striker Jenna Richardson, a junior at Oregon State and a player who has had the unique experience of playing for both Whitecaps FC Sounders women’s teams. Other standout alumnus include Vanessa Kovacs, a CIS Soccer Tournament MVP in 2013 for Trinity Western University, and Kathryn Baker, a Pac-12 All-Conference Honourable Mention as a freshman at Oregon State in 2013. Several roster additions, including Aman Shergill, Summer Clarke, Sabrina Santarossa, and Katie Krautner, have experience with Canada’s national team at the U-17 and/or U-20 levels, while goalkeepers Gurveen Clair and Ally Williamson are standouts at the Universities of Washington and Victoria, respectively.  


SEATTLE SOUNDERS WOMEN

For Seattle, this match against Vancouver will be their final tune-up before kicking off their W-League Season on May 23. Whitecaps FC are in tough against Sounders Women, as Seattle has placed top three in the Western Conference the last two seasons, and the year before that in 2011, beat Vancouver Whitecaps FC on their way to winning the W-League title.


Whitecaps FC Girls Elite head coach Jesse Symons admitted that the quality of the Seattle squad is part of the appeal of these matches for his young team, saying, “For this match we are looking to give the young players a great experience against a top class organization. It will be a step up to teams we are used to playing so it will be a good test for our young players to see how they match up to the W-league standard. “


Seattle’s roster has quite a few ties to Vancouver, including Brittany Baxter and Nicole Setterlund. Baxter, a Canadian national team player and former member of Whitecaps FC, is a Vancouver native. Setterlund, a Surrey, BC native, played three seasons for Whitecaps FC before heading to Seattle. In addition, Seattle head coach Hubert Busby Jr. has some pretty strong Vancouver connections himself – he led the ‘Caps to back-to-back W-League Final Four berths in 2010 and 2011.