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Women's World Cup: Huge crowd sees Sesselmann, Canada advance

06/22/2015, 10:00pm CDT
By ERIC ANDERSON
Lauren Sesselmann

Lauren Sesselmann (Green Bay Notre Dame) and Canada recorded one of the biggest victories in the country's history Sunday, beating Switzerland 1-0 in Vancouver to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIFA Women's World Cup.

A crowd of 53,855 – a record attendance for any team sporting event in the nation's history – saw Canada earn its first win over a European opponent in Women's World Cup history in 10 attempts. The Canadians will face England on Saturday in a quarterfinal in Vancouver. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.

After being replaced by former University of Wisconsin assistant coach Carmelina Moscato in the 68th minute of a 0-0 draw against New Zealand, Sesselmann didn't play in Canada's 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in a Group A finale last Monday.

But she logged all 90 minutes at center back against the Swiss, and the Canadians haven't allowed a goal in 248 minutes with the Houston Dash defender on the field during the tournament. The only other time Canada has advanced to the quarterfinals was in 2003, when it finished fourth.

  • Margaret Domka (Stevens Point/UW-Stevens Point) was the fourth official for two matches, Brazil's 1-0 victory over Spain on June 13 and South Korea's 2-1 win over Spain on June 17. Domka, the only American referee selected for the tournament, was the center official for Thailand's 3-2 victory over Ivory Coast on June 11.

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