JULIEN STARTS FOR CANADA WOMEN'S SOCCER VS. POLAND SATURDAY

Complete Game Report

From Canada Soccer Reports

LARNACA, Cyprus, Feb. 20, 2010 -- Former James Madison women's soccer player Christina "Corky" Julien (Williamstown, Ontario/Char-Lan District) started and played 68 minutes Saturday as her Canada national team opened its 2010 season with a 3-0 victory over Poland in an international friendly match.
In the game Canadian captain Christine Sinclair scored the 100th goal of her international career while Kelly Parker and Diana Matheson also tallied goals. All three scores came in the opening half of play.

The friendly match was the first test of Canada's 18-day camp in Cyprus which also includes the 2010 Cyprus Women's Cup.
It was a banner day for Sinclair who not only scored the milestone goal but also made her 133rd national team appearance to pass current assistant coach Andrea Neil for the national record.

"I was very pleased with the match today," said national head coach Carolina Morace. "We saw very good movement from our players. We used a new tactical formation, and I thought the players reacted very well to our changes. This team has evolved very positively in the past year."

Julien, a JMU senior who completed her collegiate soccer career last fall, had a scoring chance in the 17th minute of Saturday's match. Sinclair sent a pass to Julien in the space at the top of the Polish penalty area. She squared to shoot, but her goal-bound effort was well-defended by Poland.

Canada will now shift its attention to the 2010 Cyprus Women's Cup, where the team will face Switzerland on Feb. 24, England on Feb. 26, and South Africa on March 1. The team will then play a classification final on March 3 against a team from the opposite group (either Italy, Scotland, New Zealand or Netherlands). Canada won the 2008 Cyprus Cup on its inaugural participation and finished second in 2009.

For Canada, the Poland match and Cyprus Women's Cup are the first steps in what is an important year for the team as it builds towards the 2010 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The top two teams from the confederation final will qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Germany 2011 while the third-place team will play off against the fifth-place team from Europe for an extra qualification spot for Germany 2011.

Julien earned All-America honors in 2008, when she was selected Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year. She was voted Virginia Player of the Year in 2009. Julien completed her career ranked second on JMU career goals list (44), second on the career points list (102) and tied 18th on the career assist list (14). She scored a school-record 19 career game-winning goals.

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