Canada will have to wait another day to exact its revenge on the U.S. in women's soccer.
American forward Natasha Kai scored a hat trick to guide the U.S. to a 6-0 rout of the Canadian women's team Saturday in an exhibition match before 9,332 fans in Washington, D.C.
"My mind was just like, 'Oh. My. Goodness.' I'm still kind of shocked," Kai said.
Lindsay Tarpley, Carli Lloyd and Leslie Osborne also scored for the U.S., which sports an impressive 35-3-4 record versus Canada, dating back to 1986.
The Canadians haven't won against the Americans in seven years.
Saturday's contest marked the first meeting between the two rivals since last month's CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Juarez, Mexico, when the U.S. defeated Canada in a penalty shootout in the final. Both teams earned berths for the Olympic tournament in Beijing this summer by virtue of reaching the final.
While Kai provided the bulk of the firepower Saturday, Abby Wambach assumed the role of playmaker, setting up half of the U.S. goals on the night, five of which came in the second half.
It was a dominating performance by the Americans, who out shot the Canadians by an embarrassing 13-0 margin.
Canada was lucky to be down only 1-0 at the half. Tarpley scored in the 23rd minute to give the U.S. the lead going into the intermission, but then scored three goals in the opening 23 minutes of the second half to take a commanding lead.
Kai scored in the 54th and 63rd minute and with the U.S. sitting on a 4-0 advantage, she completed her hat trick in the 75th minute.
Osborne completed the humiliation with the U.S.'s sixth goal with three minutes left in regulation.
"We knew we had a one-goal lead, but this is soccer," Kai said. "A one-goal lead is like a 0-0 tie. We just talked at halftime, saying we had to come out here strong."
Veteran Canadian forwards Christine Sinclair and Kara Lang were kept in check all night by the miserly American defence, as U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo didn't have to make a single save.
The Canadian have won five games, tied four and lost two since January, and captured their first Olympic berth, and the first for any Canadian soccer team since the men qualified for the 1984 Games.
Canada's next exhibition game is against Australia on May 23 in Sydney. Canada will use that contest as another tune-up for this summer's Olympics in Beijing.
Canada's opening-round matches at the Olympics are against Argentina (Aug. 6), hosts China (Aug. 9), and Sweden (Aug. 12).
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