Canadian women's soccer team excited for Northern Super League's 2025 debut

Cloe Lacasse wishes a professional women's soccer league existed in Canada when she was younger.

Growing up in Sudbury, Ont., the Canadian women's national team forward didn't garner as much attention as she might have in a big city like Toronto.

Lacasse believes that reality will change with Canada's pro league, unveiled Tuesday as the Northern Super League, set to kick off in April 2025. Former Canadian international Diana Matheson is the league's chief executive officer and co-founder.

The NSL will kick off a 25-game season in April 2025 with franchises in Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax and Calgary — which unveiled its Calgary Wild FC team name and logo Thursday.

"It's something that really resonates with me," Lacasse said Thursday at Centre Nutrilait. "I wish when I was younger that this existed because my journey wasn't easy."

WATCH l Matheson on 2 new teams and newly named Northern Super League:

The No. 9-ranked Canadian women's national team takes on No. 31 Mexico in a pre-Olympic friendly Saturday afternoon at Montreal's Saputo Stadium. Canada will play Mexico again Tuesday at Toronto's BMO Field.

The 30-year-old Lacasse, who finally broke into the Canadian women's team in 2021, played professionally in Iceland and Portugal before her prolific goalscoring in those leagues helped her land in England's FA Women's Super League with Arsenal.

"I had a very difficult journey to get where I am just because there was no visibility," Lacasse said. "There weren't many coaches, so I didn't have those eyes on me, and I think this league will provide that for kids that maybe aren't drafted into a [National Women's Super League] or WSL.

"It gives them a second opportunity, almost."

Each NSL team is expected