Even though Lawrence converted her attempt from the spot, it was Buchanan and her Lyon teammates who celebrated after 120 minutes of scoreless soccer and then a shootout that was decided by a 7-6 count.

“We knew about it. It’s a little bit difficult but you just have to be focused on what you do on the pitch and let everything off the field take place,” said Hutchinson. “We couldn’t really do anything about it but just remain focused on what we had to do. In the end we didn’t get the chance to play in the Europa (League) but hopefully we’ll be able to get back there.”

Unfortunately, Hutchinson is now guilty by association. He plays for a team that has fixed matches, in a league that has yet to clean itself up. Because of that, no Canadian journalist can put him on a Canadian player of the year ballot.

Canadian midfielder Atiba Hutchinson and his new Besiktas teammates tasted victory in their Turkish league opener over the weekend. But, on Tuesday their club begins its quest for a far more important win.

If Major League Soccer is true to its word, we can expect to see a rise in the number of cards and penalty kicks awarded in games this season. Commissioner Don Garber outlined some new points of emphasis for MLS officials in his season kickoff conference call Friday. Garber made it clear that the league was concerned over what it felt was the number of infractions that went unpunished in games last season.

These are signs that the women’s game isn’t getting stronger; in fact, we may be seeing the same trend that we’ve seen with women’s hockey. After a surge in interest in the 2000s, the game is shrinking rather than growing.

But, if past history is an indication, MLS and other North American leagues need not worry about anything Blatter has to say about restricting domestic leagues.