Diana Matheson

Diana Matheson
Personal information
Full name Diana Beverly Matheson
Date of birth (1984-04-06) April 6, 1984
Place of birth Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Height 153 cm (5 ft 0 in) [1]
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
Seattle Reign FC
Number 8
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2007 Princeton University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Team Strømmen 32 (11)
2013–2016 Washington Spirit 67 (23)
2017– Seattle Reign FC 0 (0)
National team
2003– Canada 169 (16)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 05:23, 10 October 2016 (UTC).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 09:03, May 31, 2015 (UTC)

Diana Beverly Matheson (born April 6, 1984) is a Canadian international soccer player. She represents Canada on the Canada women's national soccer team and currently plays for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She previously played for the Washington Spirit in the NWSL and Team Strømmen in the Toppserien, the top division league in Norway. She is best known for scoring the bronze medal-winning goal for Canada in the 92nd minute against France at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games with the senior national team.

Early life

Born in Mississauga, Ontario, Matheson attended White Oaks Secondary School in Oakville, Ontario, where she received Principal's Award for athletics and academics. As a member of the Ontario provincial team from 1999 to 2002, she won the national championship in 2001 and was runner-up in 2002. She was captain of the team in 2002. Playing for the Oakville Women's team, Matheson was a 2002 Ontario Cup champion and club national women's champion.[2]

Princeton University, 2004–2007

Matheson majored in economics at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, and was voted Ivy League Player of the Year in 2007 and Princeton Women's Athlete of the Year in 2008.[2][3]

As a freshman in 2004, Matheson was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year. She earned first-team All-America and first-team All-Mid-Atlantic Region honours and was one of 12 finalists for SoccerBuzz Freshman of the Year. She was a three-time Ivy Rookie of the Week. During her sophomore year, she scored five goals, second-most on the team, and had a team-high of seven assists (ranked third in the Ivy League). She was one of only two unanimous first-team All-Ivy selections. Matheson earned SoccerBuzz first-team all-region and NSCAA second-team all-region honours. After missing the season-opening trip to Florida to play with the Canadian national team, she started all 14 games the rest of the season. As a junior in 2006, Matheson co-captained the squad and led the Tigers with eight goals and five assists for 21 points despite missing five games to train with the Canadian national team. She was a unanimous selection for first-team All-Ivy. As a senior, Matheson missed the first seven games to play in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China. After returning from the tournament, she earned a point in seven straight games of the 10 played and broke Princeton's single-game and career assist records with a four-assist performance against Rutgers. Serving as co-captain of the team, she was Princeton's third four-time first-team all-league honoree and seventh Player of the Year.[2]

Playing career

Club

Team Strømmen (2008-2010)

Diana Matheson played the second half of the 2008 season in Oslo, Norway, with Team Strømmen, becoming a runner-up in the Toppserien league and also in the annual Cup competition. She rejoined the same club for the 2009 season running from April to October, and for the first half of 2010 until national team duties called her away. She can be seen in a video made by her Norwegian team.[4]

Washington Spirit (2013-2016)

In early 2013, it was announced that Matheson would be joining the Washington Spirit as part of the NWSL Player Allocation, a team in the newly founded National Women's Soccer League.[5] She made her debut during the Spirit's inaugural match on April 15, 2013 against the Boston Breakers.[6] Her first NWSL goal came on a late penalty in the club's home opener against Western New York Flash on April 20, 2013.[7] At the conclusion of the 2013 season, it was announced that Matheson had been selected as a midfielder to the NWSL 2013 Best XI First Team.[8] Matheson helped lead the Spirit to its first ever playoff berth in 2014 with eight goals and six assists during the regular season.[9] After joining the team late in 2015 due to injury and participating in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Matheson scored three goals and had two assists in just nine games. In 2016, she scored four goals, tied for second most on the team. Matheson currently holds the records for most goals scored (23) and most assists (12) for the Spirit all-time.[9]

Seattle Reign

In January 2017, the Seattle Reign announced that they had acquired Matheson in a trade.[10]

International

As a regular player for Canada, Matheson is remarkable for possessing the speed and skill to hold her place in an international team that is known for its physical approach to the game, despite having a height of only 5 ft 0¼. Matheson made her national team debut at the Algarve Cup in March 2003.[2] Matheson scored in Canada's 3–1 win over China on September 30, 2010.[11] At the 2011 Pan American Games, Matheson helped Canada win the gold medal game against the defending champions Brazil by scoring on the first Canadian penalty kick after extra time.[12][13] Matheson notched the winning goal in the 92nd minute of Canada's bronze medal game (1–0) against France at the 2012 Summer Olympics on August 9, 2012. [14][15][16][17]

International goals


Goal
Date Location Opponent Lineup # Min Score Result Competition
1
2003-06-15[m 1] MexicoMazatlan  Mexico 90.Start 1.1 90

5350.03005 3–0

5350.03005 3–0

Friendly
2
2007-05-06[m 2] ChinaNanjing  China PR 90.Start 1.1 30

4950.01005 1–2

4950.01005 1–2

Friendly
3
2007-07-14[m 3] BrazilRio  Uruguay

on 46' (off Lang)

1.1 53

5350.03005 3–0

5750.07005 7–0

Pan American Games
4
2008-06-14[m 4] South KoreaSuwon  Argentina 90.Start 1.1 25

5150.01005 1–0

5550.05005 5–0

Peace Queen Cup
5
2010-02-20[m 5] CyprusLarnaka  Poland

off 56' (on Gayle)

1.1 45

5350.03005 3–0

5350.03005 3–0

Friendly
6
2010-03-03[m 6] CyprusNicosia  New Zealand 90.Start 1.1 71

5150.01005 1–0

5150.01005 1–0

Cyprus Cup
7
2010-09-30[m 7] CanadaToronto  China PR

off 85' (on McCalla)

1.1 23

5150.01005 1–0

5250.03005 3–1

Friendly
8
2010-12-09[m 8] BrazilSão Paulo  Netherlands 90.Start 2.1 55

5350.03005 3–0

5550.05005 5–0

Torneio Internacional
9
2.2 67

5450.04005 4–0

10
2011-06-07[m 9] HungaryTelki  Hungary 90.Start 1.1 87

5150.01005 1–0

5150.01005 1–0

Friendly
11
2012-07-14[m 10] SwitzerlandChâtel-Saint-Denis  New Zealand

off 79' (on Timko)

1.1 30

5150.01005 1–0

5250.02005 2–0

Friendly
12
2012-08-09[m 11] United KingdomCoventry  France 90.Start 1.1 92

5150.01005 1–0

5150.01005 1–0

Olympic tournament
13
2013-03-06[m 12] CyprusLarnaka   Switzerland 90.Start 1.1 79

5250.02005 2–0

5250.02005 2–0

Cyprus Cup
14
2014-03-07[m 13] CyprusLarnaka  Italy 90.Start 1.1 33

5150.01005 1–0

5250.03005 3–1

Cyprus Cup
15
2014-03-12[m 14] CyprusNicosia  Republic of Ireland 90.Start 1.1 56

5050.01005 1–1

5150.02005 2–1

Cyprus Cup
16 2015-12-13[m 15] BrazilNatal  Trinidad Start 1.1 10

5050.01005 1–0

5450.04005 4–0

International Tournament
17 2016-02-14[m 16] United StatesHouston  Trinidad Start 1.1 24

5050.01005 1–0

5650.06005 6–0

Olympic qualifier: Group B

Honours

Canada

See also

References

  1. 2015 World Cup
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Diana Matheson player profile". Princeton University. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  3. "Diana Matheson profile". CBC. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  4. Soccerfun
  5. "Player distribution sees NWSL take shape". FIFA. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  6. "Spirit surrender late goal for season-opening draw in Boston". April 15, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  7. "Capacity crowd of 4,569 witness history in home opening 1–1 draw". April 20, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  8. "Spirit midfielder Diana Matheson named to NWSL Best XI first team". August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  9. 1 2 http://washingtonspirit.com/persons/diana-matheson/
  10. Steven Goff (January 23, 2017). "Washington Spirit trades Diana Matheson to Seattle Reign". Washington Post.
  11. Canada-China post-match interviews
  12. "Canada Brings Home Pan American Gold". All White Kit. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  13. "No shortcomings for Oakville's Diana Matheson". Northumberland News. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  14. "Canada wins historic Olympic soccer bronze". CBC News. August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  15. "Canada Gets Some Redemption, Scores In Stoppage Time For Bronze". Sports Grid. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  16. "Matheson's bronze-winning goal a score for Oakville soccer". Toronto Sun. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  17. "Best Olympic Moments 08/09". MSN Canada. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  18. "Olympic and Paralympic athletes to receive Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal". Official Canadian Olympic Team Website | Team Canada | 2016 Olympic Games. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2017.

Match reports

  1. "Canada vs Mexico – 2003-06-15". Canada Soccer Association.
  2. "Canada vs China PR – 2007-05-06". Canada Soccer Association.
  3. "Canada vs Uruguay – 2007-07-14". Canada Soccer Association.
  4. "Canada vs Argentina – 2008-06-14". Canada Soccer Association.
  5. "Canada vs Poland – 2010-02-20". Canada Soccer Association.
  6. "Canada vs New Zealand – 2010-03-03". Canada Soccer Association.
  7. "Canada vs China PR – 2010-09-30". Canada Soccer Association.
  8. "Canada vs Netherland – 2010-12-09". Canada Soccer Association.
  9. "Canada vs Hungary – 2011-06-07". Canada Soccer Association.
  10. "Canada vs New Zealand – 2012-07-14". Canada Soccer Association.
  11. "Canada vs France – 2012-08-09". Canada Soccer Association.
  12. "Canada vs Switzerland – 2013-03-06". Canada Soccer Association.
  13. "Canada vs Italy – 2014-03-07". Canada Soccer Association.
  14. "Canada vs Republic of Ireland – 2014-03-12". Canada Soccer Association.
  15. "Canada vs Trinidad and Tobago – 2015-12-13". Canada Soccer Association. December 12, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  16. "Canada vs Trinidad and Tobago – 2016-02-14". Canada Soccer Association. February 14, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
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