Kailen Sheridan still fighting to break through with Canada's women's team

After long being touted as the Canadian women’s team’s goalkeeper of the future, Kailen Sheridan looked to have finally secured the No. 1 job in early 2021.

Stephane Labbé had been Canada's unquestioned starter for several years, helping the team win a second Olympic bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics. But Sheridan had pushed the veteran in the battle for the starting role over the previous 18 months before being tabbed as Canada's starter at the SheBelieves Cup in Orlando in February. In doing so, newly-installed coach Bev Priestman appeared to be tipping her hand as to who would get the call to be in net for Canada during the summer at the Tokyo Olympics.

But Sheridan suffered a quad injury a mere 10 minutes into Canada's first match that knocked her out for the rest of the tournament. She was sidelined for several months after undergoing surgery before returning to action, raising the question as to who would start for Canada in Japan.