Canada’s U-20 Squad: A Short Introduction
The U-20 CONCACAF Women’s Championship begins tonight, and provides a great opportunity to take a look at the upcoming talent within the program. Along with a few familiar faces, some of these players may be relative unknowns to many fans: below, I’ve gone through a few standouts who are particularly exciting prospects, and explained why I think you should keep an especially close eye on them for the next couple of weeks.
Name: Anna Karpenko
Age: 19
Position: Goalkeeper
College: Harvard University
The starter in goal is likely to be Anna Karpenko, the more experienced of the two keepers called up to this squad. Karpenko has been with the Canada youth programs since 2018, bagging the no1 spot for the U-17 World Cup that same year; she registered three clean sheets in five games across the tournament. She’ll doubtlessly be looking to make a good impression of herself with an eye on the senior team — after being called up as a training player in November 2021, Karpenko is clearly on Bev Priestman’s radar. With the retirement of Steph Labbé, this is the perfect opportunity for a young keeper to stake a claim for a place in the squad. Collegiately, Karpenko plays for the Harvard Crimson, with appearances in fourteen matches of their 2021 season, contributing to nine clean sheets.
Name: Vivianne Bessette
Age: 19
Position: Defender
College: University of South Florida
Exciting doesn’t even cover the prospect of Vivianne Bessette: her accolades at collegiate level speak for themselves. In her rookie season for the South Florida Bulls, Bessette immediately impressed, earning a spot on the ACC All-Conference First Team as well as the United Soccer Coaches All-Region First Team. She finished the year as no. 19 on TopDrawerSoccer’s list of Top 100 Freshman, as well making their Best XI Freshman Second Team. She started thirteen matches for the Bulls, becoming a staple in their backline despite her relative inexperience.
The awards didn’t stop there; in her 2021 sophomore season, Bessette again made the ACC All-Conference First Team, as well as the ACC All-Tournament team. She continued to be a vital part of the program, playing 1881 minutes of the season — the fourth highest of the team.
As a dual national, Bessette has mostly been involved in the Bulgarian youth programs, competing for them in the UEFA U-17 Championship Finals; the upcoming CONCACAF Championship will serve as her first experience within the Canadian program. Hopefully, she will be pleased with what the team has to offer, as securing this young defender’s allegiance could serve to be a huge asset in the future.
Name: Jade Rose
Age: 19
Position: Defender
College: Harvard University
Honestly, what is it with Canada and producing incredible defenders? 19 year old Jade Rose will be familiar to most CANXNT fans, having made two appearances for the senior team in the 2021 SheBelieves Cup. At just eighteen years old, Rose showed her mettle, going up against a tough Brazilian side. Though the team conceded two goals, the experience will have been a great one for Rose, who will find be an incredibly important leader within the U-20 defence over the next couple of weeks. It’s a role she has embraced throughout her time in the Canadian youth system, becoming an essential part of the Canadian defence through several U-15, U-17 and U-20 tournaments. In 2018, she played every minute of the CONCACAF U-17 Championship and the U-17 World Cup, at the age of just 15. More recently, in the 2020 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, Rose started all five matches, maintaining three clean sheets. With her wealth of skill and experience, it is no surprise that Rose earned the title of 2021 Canada Soccer Youth Player of the Year.
For her college team, Rose is equally important. Playing and starting 15 matches for the Harvard Crimson, she gained First Team All-East Recognition and First Team All-Ivy Honours in her rookie season. She also made TopDrawerSoccer’s First Year Best XI Team.
Rose is clearly ready to be integrated into senior play and certainly will have been an option to bring into the Arnold Clark Cup camp. To allow her to focus on the U-20 tournament, however, is wise with her development in mind; to contribute heavily to such an important youth championship is doubtlessly more constructive than spending a week sitting on a bench in England. Regardless, I’d expect to see Rose continue to be consistently called up to Priestman’s team in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup — and her experiences within this championship will certainly help her on her way to success at a senior level. Expect her and Bessette to make a formidable team at the back, upholding the Canadian tradition of top class defending.
Name: Miya Grant-Clavijo
Age: 18
Position: Forward
College: Brown University
Relatively untested at international level, the upcoming championship will be Miya Grant-Clavijo’s first tournament with a Canadian youth team. Having been called up to training camps since the age of thirteen, the forward is familiar with the program, but this serves as her first real opportunity to show her skills competitively.
As a rookie at Brown University, Grant-Clavijo has seen four starts in her 2021 season — and she didn’t half make an impact when she got the chance. In 574 minutes played, she scored four goals and registered one assist, with a 31% overall conversion rate and 87% shots on target. If she can replicate this form on the international stage, she will be very important to this U-20 team’s chances of success.
Kaila Novak
Age: 19
Position: Forward
College: UCLA
Of the forwards in this roster, Novak is by far the most experienced. This will serve as her fourth international youth tournament, having previously played in the 2018 CONCACAF U-17 Championship (scoring two goals) and U-17 World Cup, as well as the 2020 CONCACAF U-20 Championship (scoring one goal).
At UCLA, Novak’s freshman season was a success, with 11 starts, three goals, one assist and a spot on the PAC12 All-Freshman Team. That same year, she was named the FTF Canada Freshman Player of the Year. She continued to be an important part of the team in her second year, playing in a total of fifteen matches.
For a team relatively low on offensive firepower (they really do mimic the senior team), Novak may need to take the lead attacking-wise, making this a perfect opportunity to impress both her college team and Priestman. With the senior team refreshing and rebuilding their attack, Novak could stake a claim to be an important part of that transition.
Mia Pante
Age: 18
Position: Defender
College: Texas A&M
A dynamic full-back, Pante’s main achievements of note can actually be found in her attacking stats. Despite her relative inexperience, she was ranked fourth in the SEC for assists in 2021, leading the Texas A&M Aggies for assists. Playing in 15 matches — 13 of them starts — Pante had a stretch of four straight games with an assist, all from the backline. These successes earned her a spot on the 2021 SEC All-Freshman Team.
For Canada, Pante played the 2018 CONCACAF U-15 Championship, playing every match and keeping three clean sheets. Alongside Rose and Bessette, she will be a quality piece of the U-20 defence, but her threat going forward could also be key to the team. If she can link up with the likes of Novak and Grant-Clavijo up top, Canada could find themselves with an important attacking outlet.
Name: Nikayla Small
Age: 18
Position: Midfielder
College: Wake Forest University
Small may not have had her senior debut yet, but she is another player clearly on Priestman’s radar, one who will again benefit from the high-pressure environment this tournament provides. Called up to two senior camps at the end of 2021, Small also has experience at the U-15 level, playing four matches and scoring one goal at the 2018 CONCACAF Championship.
With the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Small has proven herself to be a star, scoring one goal and notching five assists in 20 matches. With her calmness on the ball and dynamism going forward, Small could blossom into a key player for Canada, in a position that the senior team is currently lacking.
Name: Olivia Smith
Age: 17
Position: Midfielder
Club: Ontario Rex
At just 15 years and 94 days old, Olivia Smith became the youngest player ever to be capped for either Canadian National Team, coming on as an 86th minute substitute in a friendly against Brazil. Since then, her involvements with the senior team have been intermittent, culminating in her being dropped from the SheBelieves Cup squad early last year. Priestman was firm in her belief that Smith will be a major part of the senior team in the future, and that the 2023 World Cup/2024 Olympics could be Smith’s time to shine at that level. Smith’s response to being dropped pre-Olympics is an example of her maturity, as she completely understood the need for the team to focus on players that could cope with the intensity of such a tournament.
For now, Smith has a new focus in this U-20 team. She is used to being a youngster even within the youth teams she operates within, as Priestman called Smith up to the U-15 and U-17 teams when she was just twelve years old. For this tournament, she remains as the second youngest squad member (after Florianne Jourde), but expect her to be a crucial part of Canada’s midfield nonetheless.
It would have been very difficult for me to go into detail about all 20 players in the squad; just because the following players aren’t included in my above analysis, doesn’t mean they can’t be breakout stars. (Please note: in the below profiles, I’ve categorised ‘international experience’ as experience within competitive tournaments — many of these players have been called up to training camps in the past.)
Name: Annika Leslie
Age: 18
Position: Defender
College: West Virginia University
International Experience: 2018 CONCACAF Girls’ Under-15 Championship
Name: Simi Awujo
Age: 18
Position: Midfielder
College: University of Southern California
International Experience: None
Name: Zoe Burns
Age: 20
Position: Defender/Midfielder
College: University of Southern California
International Experience: None
Name: Brooklyn Courtnall
Age: 19
Position: Defender
College: University of Southern California
International Experience: None
Name: Vanessa Frelih
Age: 17
Position: Midfielder
Club: Ontario Rex
International Experience: None
Name: Sierra Giorgio
Age: 18
Position: Goalkeeper
College: Syracuse University
International Experience: 2018 CONCACAF Girls’ Under-15 Championship
Name: Florianne Jourde
Age: 17
Position: Midfielder
Club: Quebec Rex
International Experience: None
Name: Keera Melenhorst
Age: 18
Position: Midfielder
College: University of Oklahoma
International Experience: None
Name: Serita Thurton
Age: 20
Position: Forward
College: University of South Florida
International Experience: 2018 CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship, 2018 U-17 Women’s World Cup
Name: Élisabeth Tsé
Age: 19
Position: Defender
College: Southern Methodist University
International Experience: 2018 CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship
Name: Sonia Walk
Age: 19
Position: Midfielder
College: Boston College
International Experience: 2016 CONCACAF Girls’ Under-15 Championship, 2018 CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship, 2018 U-17 Women’s World Cup, 2020 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship
Name: Holly Ward
Age: 18
Position: Forward
College: University of Texas at Austin
International Experience: None
