Canadians Lawrence, Buchanan face off in French Cup final

PSG's Ashley Lawrence, duels for the ball against FC Barcelona's Barbara Latorre. (Manu Fernandez/AP)

VANNES, France — Canadian internationals Ashley Lawrence and Kadeisha Buchanan square off for the second time in six days Friday when Paris Saint-Germain plays league champion Lyon in the French Cup final.

An even bigger game looms June 1 when Lawrence’s PSG and Buchanan’s Lyon meet in Cardiff in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final. Lyon is after its fourth European title, matching Frankfurt’s record.

Lyon (20-1-0) defeated Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in league play last Saturday on goals by Eugenie Le Sommer, Ada Hegerberg and Alex Morgan. Lawrence started at wingback for third-place PSG (16-4-1) with Buchanan coming on in the 57th minute to bolster the Lyon defence.

PSG handed visiting Lyon its only loss of the season, a 1-0 decision in December, before the two Canadians had signed.

Lawrence and Buchanan, both 21, grew up playing together in Brampton, Ont., and shared the field at West Virginia University. Buchanan has 69 caps for Canada while Lawrence has 52.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.