(Photo credit: François Laplante, Freestyle Photography)

BELGRADE, Serbia - After dropping its opening game against host Serbia on Tuesday, the Canadian women's soccer team rebounded with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over China on Thursday morning at the 25t Summer Universiade.

Summer Universiade website: www.universiade-belgrade2009.org
Team Canada website: www.universitysport.ca/belgrade

Facing a Chinese squad very sound technically, the Canadian women had to battle hard to overcome a one-goal deficit and edge their Asian rivals, who had dominated Poland 3-0 on Tuesday.

"I'm very proud of the effort from all the girls today. They played with a lot of heart the entire game," said Team Canada head coach Graham Roxburgh, from Trinity Western. "It wasn't an easy one, the Chinese gave us all we could handle. Our chemistry was better that in our first match and we were very solid defensively."

The Canadians controlled the ball for a good part of the first half but couldn't create any real scoring chances. Knowing its opponents had scored all three of their goals against Poland following stoppages in play, the red and white made sure they limited the miscues and were perfect on defence on two corners and a pair of free kicks.

The Chinese still managed to get the first real opportunity of the day and they took advantage. Following a superb save by goalkeeper Jackie Dunnett of Burnaby, B.C., Dandan Wang jumped on the rebound and opened the scoring at the 30th minute.

While it seemed they were heading for the locker room down a goal, the Canadians kept the pressure on and forced a corner. On the ensuing kick, forward Véronique Laverdière of Montreal was held in front of the net, forcing the referee to call a penalty.

Edmonton's Veronique Mayer wasn't about to miss the glorious chance to tie the affair. She beat Liming Wang with a low shot to the left for her second goal in as many games.

The red and white picked up the pace after the break and kept attacking, with Laverdière and 2008 CIS rookie of the year Nikki Wright of Surrey, B.C., both barely missing the net.

Wright, who plays at Trinity Western, would eventually break the tie at the 81st minute. After a long touch towards the box by Chelsea Stang, also of Surrey, Wright saw the ball bounce behind her, turned around and fire a rocket at mid air that hit the inside of the right post before going in.

"It was a nice play for sure, but what got us the win today was the amazing work by all the girls," said Wright. "As soon as one of us was in trouble, there was always a girl ready to step in and help."

"We really communicated better on the field today and it made a huge difference," said Stang, who excelled on defence all day. "Things are starting to fall in place for us, it's a good sign for our next games."

Canada faces Poland Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Belgrade time in its third and final Pool A outing. The top two teams in the group advance to the quarterfinals.

"After losing by three goals to China, Poland could be force to play with desperation so we'll have to be ready. It might be a very physical battle," Said Roxburgh.

SUMMARY

Boxscore: http://results.ub2009.org/results/ENG/FB/FBR173A_FB140000100003ENG.htm

CAN: 1-1:2
CHN: 1-0:1

First Half:
1. CHN, Dandan Wang, 30th
2. CAN, Veronique Mayer, 45th

Second Half:
1. CAN, Nikki Wright, 81st

Goalkeepers:
CAN: Jackie Dunnett (W, 1 GA, 6 saves, 90 mins)
CHN: Liming Wang (L, 2 GA, 2 saves, 90 mins)

Shots: CAN 7, CHN 9
Shots on net: CAN 4, CHN 7
Corners: CAN 6, CHN 6
Offsides: CAN 0, CHN 7
Fouls: CAN 14, CHN 7
Yellow Cards: CAN (Jackie Dunnett), CHN (Dandan Wang, Chen Wang)
Red Cards: none

TEAM CANADA WOMEN'S SOCCER SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times Belgrade time)

June 30: Serbia 2, Canada 1
July 2: Canada 1, China 0
July 4, 10:30: Canada vs. Poland
July 6, 17:30: Quarterfinals
July 8, 17:30: Semi-finals
July 10, TBD: Bronze & Final

About the Summer Universiade

The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years, and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors between the ages of 17 and 28 in the year of the Games who are full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.

-CIS-