Three of Canada’s four professional sides were in action Saturday. Our two MLS sides both faced non-league, lower-tier competition, with mixed results. Orlando City, who is affiliated with Premiership side Stoke City, beat Toronto FC in the consolation game of the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic. Toronto left the land of Mickey Mouse with two losses, one to the Houston Dynamo and the other to Orlando, which will play in USL-Pro this season.

The aborted travel plans of the Kitsap Pumas have greatly influenced the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League race. Calgary United will see it’s record go from 5-4 to 7-4 this weekend without having to kick a ball. This weelend’s scheduled home Professional Arena Soccer League interconference doubleheader against the Pumas was cancelled, after the Seattle-area team’s travel plans fell apart.

Canada got an early goal, and then held on. Check that. Held on desperately in a 1-0 win over Panama in the first of two semifinals at the U-17 CONCACAF Championship in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Canada, which had already qualified for the U-17 World Cup in Mexico by making it to the semifinals of the competition, faces the winner of the United States-Jamaica semifinal, being staged later Friday.

Canada is going to the U-17 World Cup for the first time since 1995. A headed goal from Chris Nanco, and an absolute rocket (and candidate for goal of the tournament) from TFC Academy’s Keven Aleman gave Canada a 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Instead of going for it, Honduras decided instead to protect its starters, and went through the motions in a 0-0 draw with the Canadians Saturday in Jamaica. Honduras made five change to its starting lineup Saturday, choosing to protect key players from card trouble and injury rather than try to win the group.

The Vancouver Whitecaps are still a month away from their first regular-season MLS game, so it’s early to even call the club “a work in progress.” But Chivas USA, trying to recover from a disastrous season under former coach Martin Vasquez, is showing strongs signs of what we should expect from the club in the regular season. Chivas beat the Whitecaps 1-0 in a training match in Casa Grande, Ariz. on Friday, as Jesus Padilla beat Vancouver keeper Jay Nolly with a last-gasp strike.

The announcement of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship schedule brought no surprises. Today, the Canadian Soccer Association confirmed the new format, which has been bandied about since November. Toronto FC, as the defending champs, will be seeded No. 1, and faces No. 4 seed FC Edmonton in one semifinal, while the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps will meet in the other semi.

Adrian Cann has been added to the Canadian roster for the Feb. 9 friendly against Greece. Toronto FC is training in Turkey, which neighbours Greece, so bringing reigning team MVP Cann over was the easiest solution available to coach Stephen Hart, who learned yesterday that FC Koln central defender Kevin McKenna would not be available due to a back problem.

Christine Sinclair beat three Swedish defenders and then calmly scored her 115th career goal for Canada, as our women’s national team defeated Sweden 1-0 in each team’s final game Tuesday at the Yongchuan Cup in China. The win is Canada’s first triumph over a top-four ranked nation in women’s soccer in just over four years.

Canada beat the host Chinese 3-2 in the opening game of the Yongchuan Cup, but had to come from a 2-0 deficit to do it. Christine Sinclair’s winning goal in the 94th minute, just seconds before the final whistle was blown, topped Canada's three-goal comeback effort.