The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is less than a year away and Sudbury native Cloe Lacasse is doing everything in her power to be part of that mix.

The graduate of Ecole Secondaire Macdonald-Cartier and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes (NCAA) participated in both legs of a recent two game stint for Team Canada, visiting the host country to get acclimatized for what lies ahead from July 20th to August 20th 2023.

Lacasse and her teammates would return from Australia with solid victories of 1-0 and 2-1 against the home side, with Canada currently ranked 7th in the world and the women from the Land Down Under holding on to the 12th position in the FIFA ladder.

Though Lacasse, who has suited up for the past three years for Benfica in Portugal, did not manage to hit the scoresheet (29 year old winger Adriana Leon would take care of that, scoring all three Canadian goals), she did find her way on to the pitch in both outings.

Lacasse came on to replace Jordyn Huitema on Saturday in the 68th minute, playing the remainder of the game, a pattern that repeated itself a few days when the local product came on in relief of Nichelle Prince in the 67th minute of the 2-1 triumph.

Following her graduation from Iowa in 2014, Lacasse would launch her professional soccer career in Iceland, signing on with IBV - Vestmannaeyjar in the Beista deild kvenna, the top women's league in the country.

Throughout most of her youth, Lacasse was a member of the Sudbury Canadians girls soccer club, a group which produced a handful of future post-secondary players on both sides of the border.