Canada’s best female football players shine in Red-White game

Team White outlasts Team Red to win national showcase game

OTTAWA (May 8, 2022) – A pair of first-half touchdown passes by Reed Thorstad helped Team White to a 30-16 victory over Team Red in the 2022 Football Canada Red-White game at Keith Harris Stadium in Ottawa, Sunday. Thorstad’s scores helped stake White to a 16-0 halftime lead, before Team Red mounted a late charge that could have sent the game to overtime.

“I thought it was exciting,” said Ryan Clutterbuck, the Team Canada head coach. “The players were outstanding on both sides. The quarterback play on the white team was excellent early on and then the red team came storming back. It was just a great game. Each side took turns playing the best.”

The game was the conclusion of the Football Canada 2022 Senior Women’s National Team training camp, which saw a record 135 women’s football players from across the country descend on the nation’s capital in the hopes of being part of Team Canada at the 2022 IFAF World Women’s Football Championship in Finland this summer.

“I was saying to the coaching staff after the game this is where it gets hard,” Clutterbuck added. “We had to make cuts last night and now we have to do it again and it’s just that much harder. There were players that they showed themselves well and made our job that much more difficult.”

Thorstad, 26, who was named the Team White MVP, went 14-for-19 for 160 yards and two touchdowns as she played the first half. She drove her squad 90 yards in a nine-play opening drive that culminated with a seven-yard strike to Rose-Amelie Brunet (Moncton Vipers). Her other scoring pass came with a minute to go in the first half, as she found Virginie Roussel (Montréal Blitz) on a 15-yard pass. Those majors sandwiched a 21-yard field goal by Kristie Elliot (Simon Fraser) and put White up 16-0 at halftime.

“I think it was just like really cool to see the talent in women’s football across the country… coming from both teams, offence and defence … lots of big plays out there,” said Thorstad, a member of the Saskatoon Valkyries. “I think on our side, the white team, we had good receivers make a lot of big plays and make me look good sometimes. It was super fun to be out here with everyone.”

This came despite the best efforts of Team Red MVP Alexandra Ondo who impressed with her physical play through the game. Ondo, a four-time women’s rugby All-Canadian at the University of Ottawa, led all players with 9.5 tackles and added an interception and two pass breakups. The 24-year-old also saw duty on kickoff returns, picking up 40 yards on three returns.

“Honestly, I’m pretty happy with how things went. It was my first football game, so I was really just hoping to showcase my physicality, which we didn’t really get chance to do much over the weekend… obviously to save our bodies,” she said. “I’m really happy with how things went, and I felt like I did alright.”

Team White extended its lead to 23-0 on a two-yard run by Erin Walton (Calgary Rage) early in the fourth quarter.

However, Team Red saved its best for last, as a pair of touchdown passes from Aria McGowan (Edmonton Storm) to Al Kowalksi (Regina Riot) brought the Reds to within 10 points at 23-13. A 17-yard field goal by Maude Lacasse (Montreal Blitz) with 1:51 left cut the lead to seven points.

But the miracle finish was not to be, as White closed the game out with a seven-play, 75-yard drive, culminating in Brunet’s second score of the day. She finished with nine catches for 68 yards, both game highs.

The teams combined for 523 yards of total offence, with White having a 327-196 edge.

Walton completed nine of 17 passes for 102 yards and added a touchdown pass to her touchdown run. Aria McGowan (Edmonton Storm) started for Red and threw for 121 yards. Lacasse came on in the second half and threw for 24 yards.

Team Red’s receiving was led by Rebekah Koutsogiannopolous (Regina Riot), who had 59 yards on three catches. Ricki Obed (Saskatoon Valkyries), Laurence Pontbriand (Montréal Blitz) and Al Kowalski (Regina Riot) also recorded more than 50 yards in catches.

Hanna McEwen (Texas Elite) of Team White led all rushers with six carries for 59 yards, while Kasey McCombs (Regina Riot) led Red with 34 yards on six attempts.

Defensively, Team White was led by Danaye Holynski (Saskatoon Valkyries), whose three tackles all were for losses, including two sacks. Shaylyn de Jong (Saskatoon Valkyries) had White’s only interception. For Red, alongside Ondo was Brigitte O’Driscoll (Montréal Blitz), who had a pair of sacks.

The game was officiated by an all-female crew from across the country, led by Referee Emily Clarke of Alberta. The other officials were Tracy Paluzzi (Umpire, B.C.), Kennedy Molloy (Down Judge, Manitoba), Stephanie Korchynski (Line Judge, Manitoba), Sharon Airey (Back Judge, Alberta), Taylor Mickleboro (Side Judge, Ontario) and Georgina Paull (Field Judge, Quebec)

With the end of the national selection camp, Clutterbuck and his staff now turn to determining the final squad who head to Finland this July as part of Team Canada.

“We’ve got to watch the game film, we’ve got to do our work, we’ve got to make decisions about what our lineup is going to look like and from a personnel standpoint there [are] decisions that have to be made around are we going to be a run-first team, a pass-first team, and so that impacts our decisions around personnel,” Clutterbuck said.

“That’s our immediate to do list for the next week to ten days. And then after that it’s about preparing as best we can to land and compete.”