SAINT-ETIENNE — The Canadian women's soccer team kicked off the defence of its Olympic title with a 2-1 victory over New Zealand on Thursday at the Paris Games.
Cloe Lacasse and Evelyne Viens scored for the eighth-ranked Canadians, who looked unsettled at the start but delivered a strong second half in the Group A opener at Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium.
Mackenzie Barrie tallied for the 28th-ranked Football Ferns.
Assistant coach Andy Spence served as Canadian head coach after Bev Priestman volunteered to sit out. The Canadian Olympic Committee accepted her decision to remove herself from the match in the wake of a Canada Soccer drone scandal.