Thrust into a maelstrom, acting head coach Spence keeps Canadian women's soccer team focused on the field

Andy Spence hasn't skipped a beat since being thrust into the acting head coach position for the Canadian women's soccer team at the Paris Olympics.

In charge of a coaching crew that has been cut in half in the wake of a drone spying scandal, Spence is sticking with the same style he used as an assistant. He has guided his team to three straight victories despite an avalanche of distractions over the last week.

"I would say he's like a light," said Canada defender Ashley Lawrence. "He has very good energy and is very positive. I think he's exactly what the team needs right now."

Canada survived the group stage by the slimmest of margins after a six-point FIFA penalty in the wake of the Canada Soccer scandal. The sanction put the team in must-win mode earlier than expected.

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Vanessa Gilles scored in the 12th minute of injury time for a dramatic 2-1 win over host France last week and tallied again in a 1-0 victory over Colombia on Wednesday night that sent Canada into the knockout round.

"It would have been so easy for us to go our separate ways. For us to say like, 'What's even the point?,"' she said. "But we held onto that slim chance of us being able to (advance) and it fuelled us to go forward."

The Canadians travelled to Marseille on Thursday to prepare for a Saturday quarterfinal against Germany.

"It's been a week and a half, but it feels like years that we've been here," Gilles said from a muggy Stade de Nice after the game.

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Head coach Bev Priestman was sent home last week after a team performance analyst was caught using a drone to record New Zealand practice sessions.