24 year old Kadeisha Buchanan wins fourth UEFA Champions League trophy

Kadeisha Buchanan is doing what no Canadian has done before.

A week after Alphonso Davies became the first Canadian man to win the UEFA Champions League, women’s national team defender Kadeisha Buchanan won her fourth consecutive Women’s Champions League title on Sunday, as her Olympique Lyonnais side beat VfL Wolfsburg 3-1.

Buchanan, from Brampton, Ontario, is in her fourth season with the club, and has won the trophy in all four seasons. For Lyon, it is the fifth straight year they’ve won it, a record seven overall, and the third time they’ve beaten Wolfsburg in the final.

Eugénie Le Sommer, who has been with Lyon since 2010 and has scored nearly a goal a game for the club, gave her team the lead in the 25th minute. After a quick attack up the right side of the pitch, Le Sommer’s first effort was blocked, but she was quickest to the rebound, and opened the scoring.

Saki Kumagai doubled the lead just before halftime with a long-distance strike. After the ball wasn’t cleared fully, Kumagai ran onto it and fired a perfect shot into the bottom right corner in the 44th minute.

Wolfsburg brought themselves within one in the 58th minute, as Alexandra Popp headed home from close range. After Lyon goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi couldn’t hang onto a cross, Ewa Pajor found the head of Popp, who made no mistake, making it 2-1.

Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir put the game out of reach in the 88th minute, however, as the former Wolfsburg player redirected a shot from Le Sommer to seal the win, and Lyon’s fifth Champions League in a row.

Buchanan played all 90 minutes, and with the victory completes an almost-perfect season.

Her side, OL, didn’t lose a competitive match in any competition during the 2019-20 season, and won the treble for the second year in a row—capturing the Division 1 Féminine, Coupe de France Féminine and UEFA Women’s Champions League.

On a more personal note, Buchanan, a Brampton, Ontario native has had one of the best years of her career for club and country. Since the start of the calendar year, Buchanan has won a Concacaf silver medal (Canada qualified for the Olympic Games), her fourth Championnat de France, her third Coupe de France, and now her fourth UEFA Champions League trophy. She was also a Best XI selection at the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifiers and the Canada Soccer Player of the Month in February.

She’s been an important part of a sensational Lyon team over the past four seasons, and has had a lot of success. She’s played 70 matches, and won 11 trophies—four Champions Leagues, four league titles and three Coupe de France Féminine.