Wisconsin Soccer Central

Canada rolled past Haiti 6-0 in its opening match Thursday night at the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament in Vancouver, B.C., but starting left back Lauren Sesselmann (Green Bay Notre Dame) was forced to leave the game at halftime due to a knee injury.

The 28-year-old Sesselmann was injured in a collision with Haiti's Samantha Brand. She walked off the field under her own strength, but clearly in pain.

"It's a real shame because the kid was doing well for us; she brings a real grit," Canadian coach John Herdman said. "It's too early to tell. The medical staff will have a look at it once the swelling goes down. There's still some stability in there."

Sesselmann, who recently re-signed with the Atlanta Beat of Women's Professional Soccer, was making her ninth appearance for Canada after acquiring dual citizenship – her father was born in Newfoundland.

Canada continues play in the tournament at 9:30 p.m. Saturday against Cuba and closes Group A action at 9:30 p.m. Monday against Costa Rica.

• In Group B, the U.S. opens against the Dominican Republic at 9:30 p.m. today, then faces Guatemala at 6:30 p.m. Sunday and Mexico at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. All three matches will be shown on Universal Sports Network and streamed live on UniversalSports.com. The semifinals are at 7 and 10 p.m. on Jan. 27, with Universal Sports to broadcast and stream the U.S. game assuming the Americans advance, and the final is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 29 on NBC Sports Network. CONCACAF.com also will stream all matches from the tournament.
• Oak Creek's Margaret Domka was named the alternate referee for the tournament. She also was selected to officiate at the Algarve Cup, an international women's tournament which is Feb. 29 to March 7 in Portugal.