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MONTREAL -- Canada is sitting pretty ahead of the 2014 FIFA U-20 Womens World Cup. Canada was placed in one of the easiest groups during Saturdays live televised draw in Montreal. The eighth-ranked Canadians will face North Korea (ranked No. 4), Ghana (No. 19) and Finland (No. 26) in the group stage. "We definitely didnt expect an easy group," said Canadian U-20 coach Andrew Olivieri. "We were anxious. Its a great group." Olivieri, a retired Montreal Impact goalkeeper, doesnt want to get ahead of himself before the first ball is kicked five months from now. A good draw, however, allowed him to raise his expectations. "Weve never been beyond a quarter-final, except for that first tournament (in 2002)," he said. "Were in a good position. We want to reach the quarter-final, and win that quarter-final." Since the inaugural competition in 2002, also hosted by Canada, the U-20 tournament has been held every two years. This year, the 20-day tournament begins on Aug. 5 and wraps up Aug. 24. Four Canadian cities -- Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, and Moncton -- will welcome some of the best womens under-20-year-olds from 16 different nations. The final will be held at Montreals Olympic Stadium. Canada plays Ghana in the tournaments opening match in Toronto. Ghanese coach Bashir Hayford thinks Canadians would be too quick to treat the first game as an easy victory for the home side. "All eyes will be on us," said Hayford. "It will be a bit intimidating with that crowd. But well have supporters in Toronto too. I know they will galvanize and come and support us. If we can win, our confidence will be built for subsequent games. We are going to play very well." Ghana earned its spot in the U-20 World Cup by defeating Equatorial Guinea 4-3 in penalty shots in January. This is their third successive trip to the U-20 World Cup, but they have yet to make it past the group stage. "Every country wants to win the cup," said Hayford. "Thats why were competing. If you ask me about my expectations, Ill tell you: we want to win the cup." After Ghana, the Canadians will face the Finns, also in Toronto. Finnish coach Marianne Miettinen knows playing in Canada will be a great experience for her young players. She says she will be wary of Canadas good speed up front, but knows her side will come to Toronto with a lot of heart. "Finland has a good fighting spirit," said Miettinen. "The Northern teams are really well organized. Were going to give everything in every game. Were going to be really tough to beat." The Canadians close out the group stage against North Korea, in Montreal. And although the fast-paced North Korean team will prove to be a tough test for Canada, the host nation luckily avoided the Group of Death -- the soccer group that invariably brings together some of the worlds best teams. For the upcoming U-20 Womens World Cup, that group is composed of the United States (ranked No. 1), Germany (No. 2), Brazil (No. 3), and China (No. 6). Together, the U.S. and Germany have won five of six U-20 competitions. The Americans are the defending champions, having beaten the Germans 1-0 in the final game of the 2012 tournament in Tokyo, Japan. If Canada does make it past their group stage, they will have to face the Americans, Germans, or Brazilians in the quarter-final. "Its going to be challenging," admitted Olivieri. The tournaments third group opposes Nigeria (ranked No. 5), South Korea (No. 10), Mexico (No. 11), and England (No. 13), and the final one includes France (No. 9), New Zealand (No. 15), Costa Rica (No. 25), and tournament newcomers Paraguay (unranked). The U-20 World Cup will give also give Canadian soccer fans a taste of whats to come. Next summer, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver will host the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup, the first senior FIFA tournament held in Canada. Olivieri, whos been coaching the under-20s for two years now, said that any player who excels on his squad this summer will have a very good shot at being involved in next summers World Cup. In total, Canada will host 84 international soccer matches in seven cities across the country in the next two years, and is expected to draw a combined nearly two million soccer fans. "The womens game is improving in Canada," said Olivieri. "It will be incredible. There are many young kids already playing the game, and this will only help. The reach of the game will change." Note: Mayor Denis Coderre and former Montreal Canadiens coach Jacques Demers were in attendance for FIFAs official draw. a Ten of the 16 team coaches were also present in Montreal on Saturday. Wholesale Under Armour Online . No surprise there. Kershaw, who also earned the title after throwing his first career no-hitter in June, had a 1. Cheap Under Armour Shoes . -- The Florida Gators are first yet again this season. http://www.clearanceunderarmour.com/ . Cruz set the tone with a two-run homer in the first inning, and Baltimore scored eight times in the eighth to pull away for a 12-3 victory in Game 1. The major league leader with 40 homers during the regular season, Cruz added an RBI single to his early blast off Max Scherzer. Cheap Under Armour Authentic .com) - The disappointing Ottawa Senators hope to record consecutive wins for the first time since early November, as they visit the Boston Bruins on Friday for the opener of a home-and-home series. Cheap Under Armour USA . Needing to bulk up on both sides of the line, the Falcons agreed to terms with guard Jon Asamoah, defensive end Tyson Jackson and defensive tackle Paul Soliai. Asamoah and Jackson played last season with Kansas City, where Asamoah lost his starting job.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings are ready to put all the talk and hype surrounding their meeting at Dodger Stadium behind them. The two Pacific Division rivals kick start the NHLs "Stadium Series" on Saturday night when they complete a home-and-home series outside at Dodger Stadium. The clubs will meet for the second outdoor game of this NHL schedule. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings began the extended slate of games outside on Jan. 1 at Michigan Stadium, with the Leafs notching a 3-2 shootout victory in the Winter Classic. The success of previous versions of that event, as well as the Heritage Classic in Canada, prompted the NHL to expand its schedule of games outside. Saturdays game is the first of four in the "Stadium Series" as the New York Rangers will play the New Jersey Devils on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium before returning to the famous grounds for a game against the New York Islanders on Wednesday. Later in the season, the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins will square off at Soldier Field in the Windy City on March 1 before the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators battle the following day in the Heritage Classic. That game will be played at BC Place, which features a retractable roof. Californias first ever outdoor NHL game is also the first played by the league in the U.S. west of the Mississippi River during the regular season. The Kings, though, have played outdoors before as they faced off against the Rangers in the parking lot of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Sept. 27, 1991 in a preseason game played despite an 85-degree temperature. Wayne Gretzky had a goal in that game for Los Angeles. While this contest will be of larger scale and of more importance, it has also required a ton of attention for both teams. Anaheims Ryan Getzlaf noted after a loss to Winnipeg on Wednesday that the outdoor game has caused a lot of distractions. Getzlafs words came after the Ducks lost their first game at home in regulation this season, but they bounced back on Thursday to beat the Kings 2-1 and improve to 21-1-2 as the hosting team this season.dddddddddddd That ties the 2008-09 San Jose Sharks as the second-best home record through 24 games in NHL history, with both teams going 21-1-2 to trail only the Montreal Canadiens 1943-44 home start of 21-0-3. The King struck first on Thursday thanks to a first-period tally by Anze Kopitar, but Dustin Penner tied the contest on the power play with 6:09 to go in the second period before Patrick Maroon notched the winning goal with 2:07 to play in the frame. Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots for the Ducks, who have won 20 of their last 23 games and lead the NHL with 81 points. That is nine more than the second-place Sharks and 17 up on the Kings, who lead Vancouver by just three points for the third and final automatic playoff bid in the division. "One game in January doesnt mean were a better team than them," said Ducks forward Ben Lovejoy. "They played a great game tonight. We were one goal better than them, barely. Were two very evenly matched teams, and we need to bring it on Saturday in order to be successful." The Ducks will play five in a row at home after this game and have lost their last five games as the visitor in this series. The two clubs have split two meetings this season, with the Kings notching a 3-2 shootout win in Anaheim on Dec. 3, and Los Angeles has won eight of the previous 12 encounters overall. Jonathan Quick made 19 saves for the Kings, who won the opener of a five-game road trip on Jan. 16 in St. Louis before dropping the final four games of the trek. "We came up short," Kopitar said. "Thats something we have to learn from. We cant just give up soft goals and easy goals." Quick is 13-6-2 with a 2.41 goals against average in 23 games during his career versus the Ducks, who are likely to go back to Jonas Hiller in net tonight. Hiller has allowed six goals total in back-to-back losses after winning 14 straight and is 8-8-3 with a 2.43 GAA lifetime versus the Kings. ' ' '