Christine Sinclair scores in her final regular-season match as Portland Thorns clinch playoff spot
CBC
Canada's Christine Sinclair scored in her celebratory retirement match and the Portland Thorns clinched a playoff spot with a 3-0 victory over Angel City on Friday night.
Sinclair, who is playing in her final season, scored in the 16th minute in front of 23,212 fans at Providence Park. Sophia Smith and Morgan Weaver also scored for Portland in its last regular-season match.
Sinclair's club career was extended with the victory, but Portland won't know its opening round opponent until this weekend's final games are wrapped up.
Sinclair, who retired from the Canadian national team last year as international soccer's most prolific scorer, helped the Thorns win the inaugural NWSL championship in 2013 and additional titles in 2017 and 2022.
She is among just three active players in the NWSL who have played for the same team since the league launched in 2013. The others are Jess Fishlock and Lu Barnes of the Seattle Reign.
Sinclair has scored a club-record 66 regular-season goals, ranking third in league history. Friday night's game was her 200th appearance for Portland.
After Sinclair's goal, Smith added her 12th of the season in the 26th minute and Weaver scored in first-half stoppage time.
Sinclair was subbed out in the 83rd minute to a lengthy ovation and toasted in a post-game ceremony.
"Some of the best moments of my life have been on this pitch. So just a massive thank you," she said to the crowd.
She finished her international career last year as the world's top goal scorer among both women and men with 190 goals. Sinclair won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Games.
She's also among just five players to appear in six Women's World Cups, and one of three players to score in five.
A native of Burnaby, B.C., Sinclair won NCAA championships with the University of Portland in 2002 and 2005.
Whitehorse city council is considering a proposal to study 14 lots throughout the city for housing development.
In the closing days of the NDP leadership race, Avi Lewis's past activism has resurfaced. But the front-runner's campaign is standing by his past work and a decade-old vision that's been both criticized within the New Democrats' ranks and weaponized by their opponents.
Some rural municipalities want the province to know ambulance response times and basic care in their communities are not meeting the mark.
The sighting of a sniper on Saturday during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Waterloo was met with fear and shock by some partygoers, but one policing expert says this was a proactive measure designed to keep the crowd safe.
A 25-year old Prince Edward Island man has been sentenced to six months in jail for firearms offences.
Closing schools, stalled housing starts — not common headlines in Alberta's booming cities.
Two MLAs and the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation chief say they welcome the territory’s new trespassing legislation because they believe it will help address concerns about uninvited guests intruding in people’s homes and refusing to leave.
U.S. President Donald Trump is struggling to persuade other nations to help protect commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a development that analysts say is partly the result of treating allies with contempt since returning to the White House last year.
The actions of an Alberta judge who lost his temper and briefly jailed a defence lawyer in the middle of a trial were “unacceptable,” ruled the Judicial Inquiry Board, which recommended a 30-day suspension without pay for Justice Gordon Yake.
Irish-born chef Liam Brannigan says there are four words he loves to hear about the food he serves as he drives his food truck around southwestern Ontario.
Last spring, the Newfoundland and Labrador government announced a loan guarantee program for restaurants — but so far, businesses haven't tapped into it.
Several organizations and groups in Greater Sudbury, Ont. remain closed or operating under a modified schedule after a major storm hit the region Sunday night.
As Halifax scraps plans for a sobering centre, staff at similar facilities across Canada say they’re a crucial part of the continuum of care needed to address homelessness and addiction.