Canadian women have rough second half in Portland

Sophie Schmidt’s visit to what she calls her second home didn’t go so well for the Canadian national women’s team. Schmidt and the Canadian women lost the second of their two-game set of friendlies against the United States Thursday by a 3-0 count. But Schmidt got a loud ovation from the 18,000 plus at JELD-WEN Park who remembered her time as a standout for the University of Portland. Karina Leblanc got the start in goal and shut out the Americans in the first half. But Stephanie Labbe allowed two goals to U.S. soccer hero Abby Wambach and a late insult-to-injury marker to Alex Morgan. Wambach scored on a laser of a shot and a header, while Morgan tapped the third goal home after the Canadian back line couldn’t clear a corner kick. Canada had drawn the Americans 1-1 on Saturday in Kansas City. And Canada could have opened the scoring, but the Ottawa Fury’s Christina Julien had an attempt crash off the bar early in the second half. The Americans had a series of decent chances in the first half, the best coming when Megan Rapinoe, another University of Portland alumna, had a shot that came off Leblanc and loop off the bar from just six yards out. As he did in the first match, new Canadian coach John Herdman went with an experienced lineup; but Lauren Sesselman, who made her Canadian senior debut on Saturday, got 75 minutes of time in on Thursday. Syracuse University’s Tina Romagnuolo came in as a late sub. Canada would likely have got some more cheers from the Portland crowd had another alumna been able to make this game — but Christine Sinclair, who won two M.A.C. Hermann Trophies while she went to school with Schmidt and Rapinoe, wasn’t included on the roster for these friendlies as she’s recovering from a tough WPS season and World Cup campaign.