VANCOUVER—Janine Beckie scored twice in the first half as Canada defeated Mexico 3-2 in a women’s soccer friendly on Saturday.
Deanne Rose had the other goal for the Canadians, while Nancy Antonio and Kaitlyn Johnson replied for the visitors.
Billed by Canada Soccer as a celebration game to honour the country’s Olympic bronze medals at London 2012 and the Rio Games last summer, the match also marked the final national team appearances for veterans Melissa Tancredi, Rhian Wilkinson and Marie-Eve Nault.
Players from the 2016 bronze-medal squad were honoured before kickoff, while members of the 2012 team were given a rousing ovation at halftime.
Canada, ranked No. 4 in the world by FIFA, set a new women’s national team record in 2016 with 15 wins in a calendar year.
A snowstorm blanketed the Vancouver area Friday and into Saturday, but a crowd of 22,508 braved the inclement weather.
Canada had 19 of the 21 players from the Rio team at B.C. Place Stadium for the game — centre back Kadeisha Buchanan and fullback-midfielder Ashley Lawrence weren’t released by their French clubs — while seven other youngsters were sprinkled into the squad of 26.
A standout defender throughout her career, Wilkinson started the game on the bench, but came on as substitute in the 57th minute to win her 181st cap. The 34-year-old made her debut for Canada in 2003.
The 35-year-old Tancredi, a powerful striker who scored 27 goals in 124 appearances coming into Saturday, also started on the bench before coming on in the 76th minute.
A member of the national team since 2004, Tancredi scored twice in Canada’s famous 2-1 victory over Germany in Brazil, for the country’s first-ever win against the European powerhouse.
Nault, meanwhile, started against Mexico to win a 71st cap. The 34-year-old didn’t play in Rio, but was an integral part at the 2012 Olympics after two defenders ahead of her on the depth chart were felled by injuries.
Canadian players spoke all week about how emotional it would be to say goodbye to their friends and teammates, many of whom grew up alongside the trio that finish their careers with a combined 377 appearances.
The players hugged at the final whistle, while the big screen showed pictures of Tancredi, Wilkinson and Nault before an on-field celebration.
The game against Mexico, ranked No. 26 by FIFA, was also Canada’s first at B.C. Place Stadium since crashing out as hosts of the 2015 Women’s World Cup in a devastating quarter-final loss to England in front of more than 54,000 fans.
Canadian head coach John Herdman led a training camp in California last month as he begins preparations for 2019 World Cup and 2020 Olympics. Of the seven players not part of the Rio squad currently in the setup, five are teenagers.
Canada opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Rose, who scored in the 2-1 bronze-medal victory over Brazil this summer, grabbed the ball in midfield before powering past a defender and beating Mexican goalkeeper Bianca Henninger.
Mexico responded two minutes later after Canada gave the ball away to Antonio, who fired a shot by Stephanie Labbe.
The Canadians retook the lead in the 26th when Beckie jumped on a poor clearance by a Mexican defender and curled a low shot beyond Henninger’s reach.
Beckie, who scored three goals for Canada in Rio, then made it 3-1 in the 40th minute on a nicely taken penalty after captain Christine Sinclair was brought down in Mexico’s 18-yard box.
Natalia Gomez-Junco came close to making it 3-2 in first-half injury time, but Labbe got a hand to her long-range effort to push it onto the crossbar.
Johnson did get Mexico to within one in the 59th when she was left unmarked on a corner to tap home against substitute ‘keeper Kailen Sheridan.
The Mexicans got another chance in the 82nd with a free kick in a dangerous area, but Maria Sanchez’s shot went just over the bar.
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