Three Australians made their international debut as the Matildas went down 2-0 to Canada in Vancouver this afternoon (Aust time), the opening game of their tour.
Midfielders Olivia Hohnke and Tal Karp both celebrated their first cap with a starting eleven berth. Thea Slatyer made her return to the stadium where the Young Matildas took on Brazil in the recent FIFA U19 World Championship quarterfinal, when she came on as a substitute late in the game.
Australia showed some promising patches of play, but were unable to convert some good chances on goal in what was a testing, physical encounter. Overall, Australia outshot their opponents 11-9, but Canada, utilising the two friendly internationals as final preparation for their World Cup Qualifiers, made their chances count.
Canada held the upper hand for much of the first half, their direct style of attack making life difficult for the Matildas. The Canadians however finished the half unrewarded on the scoreboard after Charmaine Hooper sent their best chance skyward shortly before halftime.
From the start of the second term, the Matildas pushed forward, keeping the ball well with some neat passages of play. Five minutes in, Kelly Golebiowski set up Joanne Peters with a through-ball but the shot went wide, before a Salisbury header off a corner kick struck the top of the crossbar in the 56th minute. Two minutes later, Golebiowski made a brilliant swerving run down the right and cut inside but the keeper got a touch to the strike and it hit the crossbar.
Midfielder Isabelle Morneau then gave Canada the lead in the 62nd minute, meeting a cross from Amy Walsh with a side volley into the back of the net from 15 metres.
From the re-start, Matildas striker Golebiowski was unlucky not to claim the immediate equaliser when she broke through the defence to be one-on-one, but her shot was stopped by the keeper who had charged out off her line.
Morneau sealed the home-side win with her second goal of the night with six minutes remaining, poking the ball home from close range after Kara Lang's rocket ball into the area deflected off two defenders.
National Coach Adrian Santrac summed up the game with several areas where he will be looking for improvement over the remainder of the tour. "Canada's aerial style of play was difficult to deal with, it took our players far too long to settle down and take control of the game", he said. "When we did take control, missed chances and some poor defending eventually proved to be the difference. We are looking forward to the next game in Victoria."