eally kickstarted maybe the last week," Park

TORONTO -- Former star striker Kara Lang played at the Under-20 Womens World Cup on two occasions before devoting her full attention to the Canadian womens senior team. She still remembers the massive roar of the home crowd when the Canadians walked out on the pitch before 47,784 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in 2002. Lang expects a similar reception for the Canadian team as the host nation at this years tournament, which begins Tuesday. "Nothing can compare to that -- the level of intensity, the crowd support that you get," Lang said in a recent interview. "I was 15 at the time, the rest of the team was 16, 17, 18-year-olds and to be playing in front of crowds of 50,000 people cheering for you, its unlike anything else. "Thats what this team is going to experience as well." Langs appearance at the inaugural tournament in Edmonton -- at that time it was a U-19 event -- came shortly after she made her debut with the senior team. There are several Canadian players who will be in a similar position for the 2014 tournament, which will be played Aug. 5-24 in Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal and Toronto. Midfielder Jessie Fleming has suited up for the senior team before and also played at the U-17 competition. "Its perfect because weve experienced a big tournament and we know what its like dealing with not a lot of recovery time and intense matches," she said. "I think that will help." Canada held a camp in mid-July in Mexico and will open the tournament Tuesday at BMO Field with a Group A game against Ghana. Canada will play Finland on Friday in Toronto before heading to Montreal for an Aug. 12 game against North Korea. Centre backs Kadeisha Buchanan and Rebecca Quinn, fullback Sura Yekka, midfielder Ashley Lawrence and forward Nichelle Prince are the other Canadian players with senior team experience. Defender Kinley McNicoll will serve as captain and Kailen Sheridan is the No. 1 goalie. Canada went 1-2-0 at the 2012 tournament and failed to advance out of the group stage. Andrew Olivieri is back as coach and senior team coach John Herdman is serving as high-performance director. The Canadian program has an eye on the big picture for all youth competitions and this one is no different. Olivieri wants his players to move closer to taking that next step to the senior team and hopefully achieve success along the way. "Six games at the international level is the most we can get out of this tournament," Olivieri said. "So thats going to take winning a quarter-final and thats going to remain our objective: is win a quarter-final, get into a semi and whether its a semi, a final, a third-place game, thats just what the system needs right now." Group B includes the U.S., Germany, China and Brazil. Group C is made up of England, Mexico, Nigeria and South Korea while Group D consists of Costa Rica, France, New Zealand and Paraguay. Germany and the defending champion Americans have combined to win five of the six previous U-20 tournaments while North Korea won in 2006. All three teams are expected to be strong again this year. The top two teams from each pool advance to the quarter-finals, which will be shared by the four host cities. Moncton and Montreal will host the semifinals and Montreal will stage the final and third-place match. The tournament comes a year before Canada hosts the 2015 Womens World Cup. "For a lot of these players, its kind of a warmup for them because a number of them will be playing in 2015 next summer with the full womens team," Lang said. "Next summer wont be such a shock to them if theyve gone through something like this. "It can be a bit of a shock when you walk out onto the field ... as the tournament grows, the support grows. By the time we walked out to crowds of 10 and 20,000 people (in 2002), we were floored and then it just grew as the tournament went on. In a number of ways its great preparation." Olivieri said his squad will be the youngest U-20 team Canada has ever fielded in the tournament. "Well be talented but we will be young," he said. "Its hard to tell how well stack up against other teams." Buchanan, one of the anchors of the Canadian defence, isnt lacking for confidence. "Our team is capable of dominating the opposition," she said. "Playing in their half and just getting (shots) on net." Fleming echoed those thoughts. "I think were capable of going all the way," she said. "I think its going to be tough. Its going to be tough for any team to win the tournament. We just have to take it game by game." Lang said there are always a few surprise results because it can be challenging to track the development of other national youth programs. She expects Olivieri and Herdman will have the players ready and prepared. "They have really implemented a system and a philosophy of mental toughness," she said. "It really is just based on individual players knowing their roles and focusing on that." Langs other U-20 appearance came in Thailand in 2004. She played in two World Cups -- in 2003 and 2007 -- as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her eyes still light up when she talks about that magical ride to the final in 2002. "Playing in an international tournament at home in front of Canadian fans -- you cant beat it," she said. Stephen Strasburg Nationals Jersey . And all things considered, the first 40 games have offered a little bit of everything from a hockey club that faced many questions in its first year under new management, with a new head coach and with a number of new faces in the lineup. However, with a recent dip in scoring, it seems some of the same old questions persist and several new ones have been raised after a somewhat troubling homestand. Washington Nationals Gear . The defending champions’ roller coaster season included trading offensive star Percy Harvin in the midst of the team’s 3-3 start. That move that reportedly irked several Seahawk players, but one management saw necessary to save the team’s chemistry. https://www.cheapnationals.com/937r-jeremy-hellickson-jersey-nationals.html . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team. Juan Soto Nationals Jersey . The victory strengthened Liverpools position in the top four after Tottenham lost 1-0 at Norwich in the days late kickoff, cutting the north London club six points adrift of fourth place and the final Champions League slot for next season. Daniel Hudson Jersey . -- Antoine Bibeau bought the Val-dOr Foreurs valuable time at the Memorial Cup with his 51-save shutout Friday.WATERLOO, Ont. -- Despite periods of steady rain, Inbee Park was on fire. The South Korean burned up Grey Silo Golf Course on Sunday, tying a course record of 10-under 61 to win the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic by three strokes at 23-under par. Five birdies on the front nine and five on the back sealed the 10th career win and first this season for Park, who was two strokes off leader Shanshan Feng of China heading into the final round. Feng faltered on the day and was only able to shoot 3 under par 68 to finish at 18 under, slipping into third place. Miamis Christie Kerr blew by Feng with a bogey-free round of 8 under 63 to finish at 20-under par. Park will take home the $225,000 of the $1.5-million moving her up to fourth on the money list this season at $744,510. Kerr earned $136,903 and Feng $99,314. Had it not been for Parks scorching putter, Kerr might have caught her. "It seems like today I just put the putter head on my ball and it just wants to go in the hole. It was just one of those days where I really didnt need to try hard to make it go in. I just needed to really trust my break and just play my own golf," Park said, explaining her barrage of birdies. Park admitted she peeked at the leaderboard from time to time, as she didnt really pull away from the pack until she birdied the 14th hole to go to 22-under par and stretch her lead to four strokes. "I didnt really watch the board all the time. I watched a couple times and I knew everybody was having a good score. I didnt know where Christie was because she wasnt playing with me, but I always knew where Shanshan was." Feng said she was in awe of Parks putting, not believing that she could sink so many birdies. At one point, Park was in position for a coveted and extremely rare 59. "I was joking with her, because she made all the putts almost a I said, Do you have GPS in your ball," Feng said with a laugh. "She said this was her first time to putt this well this year. I said well, I bring you good luck, so she owes me dinner now. Shes going to spend a lot of money." Though she had a hard time keeping pace with Park, Feng wouldnt let up and cooncede the tournament.dddddddddddd "I didnt give up any time during the round," she said. "Three-under wasnt a great score, but I think I did well the whole week." Kerr basically had to tip her hat to Park for her day on the course. "I never looked at the scoreboard until I came off 17 just, with a reachable par 5, to see where I was and I was stunned because I was 7 under for the day (at that point). Youd think youd be close," Kerr said, adding that she did everything she possible could for the last two days, shooting a combined 14-under par. "I guess that second round at 2 under kind of hurt me. But I mean, with this kind of golf course, you have to have four really stellar days and I had three really stellar days. You know, theres only one winner so I have to be pleased with my performance." If Kerr and Feng has anyone to blame for Parks performance this week its Stacy Lewis, who knocked Park out of first in the Rolex rankings last week after 59 weeks as No. 1. "I think, definitely, I really kickstarted maybe the last week," Park said. "I just needed some kind of breakthrough or some kind of motivation to go lower. I played great golf, but just not enough. I feel like Im playing better golf and Ive got a lot of confidence from this week." Also gaining confidence is Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., who was the top Canadian at the tournament, finishing in a tie for 35th at 8 under par after shooting 3 under on the day. Kim said she almost skipped the tournament to have a week of rest after missing the cut the last two weeks in New Jersey and Alabama. "I hit it great out there," Kim said. "I hit the greens in regulation, every day, was improving. I hit 17 greens today and just gave myself a lot of birdie chances." Being the low Canadian on the weekend was special to her. "In Canada, as a Canadian, I always want to represent as well as I can," she said. Behind Kim was Brooke Henderson (68) of Smith Falls, Ont., and Hamiltons Alena Sharp (71) at 6 under, Jennifer Kirby (70) of Paris, Ont., at 4 under, and Brantfords Nicole Vandermade (72) at 2. ' ' '