Whitby goalkeeper ‘angry’ but ‘immensely proud’ following Olympic soccer tournament

“I’m angry, sad and tired, and it will take some time but we will come back stronger. We will recharge and come back ready to fight for Canada again.”

These are the words of Whitby’s Kailen Sheridan, the starting ‘keeper on Canada’s Women’s National Team, on her Instagram page in the aftermath of a climatic Olympic tournament for a squad that was docked six points for a drone spying scandal but still persevered to reach the quarter-finals.

“Sometimes it’s hard to find the words. This is one of those times. The ones that find their way through, proud. Immensely proud of this team. My family. We were pushed to the edge of destruction and found a way to come out on top.”

It was on the eve of their opening match when the team found out about the drone scandal, a gut punch to the psyche of players who were eager to defend their gold medals from Tokyo and a story that played out throughout the rest of the Olympic tournament.

The fallout from the scandal would cost head coach Bev Priestman her place in the tournament – and in all likelihood her job and possibly her career – and cost the team six points in the standings, forcing them to run the table just to have any hope of advancing to the knockout round.

“We came together and we chose each other when the world tried to tear us apart. Grateful. Grateful for the opportunity to represent my country on the worlds stage. To wear the maple leaf and to again say I am an Olympian.”

Two days before their opening match in Paris against New Zealand, a side ranked 20 spots lower than Canada in the FIFA rankings, Canadian technical coach Joseph Lombardi was caught flying a drone (in one of the tightest security locations on the planet) in an attempt to film the New Zealand team’s closed-door practice.

The next day Priestman voluntarily removed herself from her spot on the sidelines, leaving assistant Andy Spence to guide the shell-shocked Canadians against the Kiwis while accusations of cheating filled the social media chat lines.

Canada held firm and won 2-1.

The next day the hammer came down, with Priestman, Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander all receiving one-year coaching bans. The team was also assessed a six-point penalty, leaving the team with a minus-three score and needing to beat host (and #2 ranked) France and #22 Colombia to even have a chance of getting out of their group.

It was at this point when the support from Canadians came through, with fans questioning the fairness of a huge point deduction for a crime that was out of the players’ control and former national team midfielder Diana Matheson offering a bit of inspiration for Team Canada 2024: “Take six points from us? Fine, let’s go get nine.”

With questions of the character of the team swirling about in the ether and the resolve of the players about to be tested, Sheridan and her teammates set about to do just that, with the first trial by fire against powerhouse France in a win-or-go-home scenario.

Late in the game with the score knotted at ones, the Canadians kept their dream alive in dramatic fashion when Sheridan made a game-saving stop at one end and centre-back Vanessa Gilles went the length of the pitch to score the winner deep into stoppage time to give the Canadians a 2-1 victory.

To this day Gilles doesn’t understand how the team found themselves in their predicament in the first place.

“We were in shock because on the first day, the RCMP met with us and made it clear that drones were illegal in France,” Gilles told Radio-Canada while still in Paris. “We banged our heads against the wall, so to speak, wondering what our coaches were going to watch of the New Zealand training. To this day, we still don’t understand.”

Teammate Gabrielle Carle, during the same French-language interview, echoed Gilles’ sentiments.

“We sat there in shock, the silence suffocating, in tears, with a broken heart,” she said. “In a stadium full of French fans singing loud and clear the Marseillaise, last in the ranking with minus-3 points, we led the battle of our lives, and we reanimated our Olympic dream.”

“From a shameful scenario was born a story of resilience and unity,” Carle added. “It’s frustrating to know that our coaches didn’t think we could win with integrity.”

When asked by the media after the match against France whether she could ever accept an apology from Priestman, Sheridan, who plies her trade with the San Diego Wave of the NWSL, said she wasn’t sure.

“Right now, it’s a really tough thing to do. Ultimately, she’s a human being, and people make mistakes. I think later down the road we’ll be in a place where we can accept that.”

“But right now, we’re staying in our bubble. We’re not allowing anything in. I think it’s really important. It’s proving to work so far. We’re going to ride it as long as we can, and we’re going to prove some people wrong.”

Three days later they faced Colombia and won that game too, on more heroics from Gilles, to finish second in the group (behind France), despite the six-point penalty.

That set up a quarter-final date with #4 Germany and despite a disorganized opening half, the Canadians dominated the second half but couldn’t find a way through the German defence and ‘keeper Merle Frohms.

In the end, Canada would lose on penalties with Frohms herself scoring the decisive penalty kick to send Germany to the semi-finals.

The U.S.A. would go on to win the gold medal match, 1-0 over Brazil.

The pain still lingers for Sheridan.

“Heartbroken. To have overcome so much and miss out by a centimeter. To feel something within reach and to have it slip away all within the same breath,” she said in her post. “And yet I’m optimistic. Ready to continue to push the landscape of women’s soccer in North America. Ready to continue to learn about myself, ready to put priority on the things important to me and ready to spend time with my family who have always been by my side.”

“Thank you to everyone who supported us and who chose the players of the CWNT. We saw you and we appreciate you.”