MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University sophomores Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence have been named to the Canadian Women’s National Team for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada.

 

Buchanan and Lawrence are the first active WVU women’s soccer players named to a national World Cup team.

 

“I am so proud of the hard work and effort Ashley and Kadeisha put in over the last few months to make the Canadian World Cup team,” said Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “They have sacrificed so much to achieve their goal of representing their country at this high level. I know West Virginia University, the WVU athletic department and the women’s soccer program are so proud to have two elite soccer players be a part of our West Virginia family.

 

“The FIFA Women’s World Cup is the highest level of soccer, and to have two Mountaineers competing is so incredible and an enormous accomplishment.”

 

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada opens on June 6, with the championship match scheduled for July 5. The contests will be played throughout Canada, with the Canadian’s opening match against China PR set for Saturday, June 6, at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta. The team will continue Group A play against New Zealand on June 11, also at Commonwealth Stadium, before meeting the Netherlands on June 15 at Olympic Stadium, in Montreal, Quebec.

 

Buchanan, a defender from Brampton, Ontario, and Lawrence, a midfielder out of Toronto, have been fixtures on the Canadian Women’s National Team for the last two years. Buchanan has started all but three of her 34 matches with the national team. Lawrence has started three of her 17 matches with the squad, including two starting nods in 2015. The duo, along with Mountaineer redshirt-freshman forward Amandine Pierre-Louis, played in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada in 2014.

 

The two-time reigning Canadian U-20 Player of the Year, Buchanan was a 2015 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy semifinalist. She has been named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in both of her seasons at WVU and also is a two-time NSCAA All-American, earning her first career first-team award last season. The Mountaineers’ Team MVP, Buchanan, a two-time All-Big 12 First Team honoree, helped WVU post 12 shutouts in 2014, two short of the program’s single-season record. She also earned a career-high eight points (3 G, 2 A).

 

Lawrence, a two-time NSCAA All-Central Region First Team honoree, also is a two-time All-Big 12 First Team award winner. She paced the Mountaineers in 2014 with seven assists and finished second on the team with 15 points (4 G, 7 A). She ranked No. 2 and No. 8 in the Big 12 in assists and points, respectively.