She moves the ball down the right flank with fluid ease before deftly turning a defender and delivering a crisp pass into space just outside the box where a teammate collects it for a shot and a goal. On the soccer pitch, it's what Alyssa Lagonia does best.

On a Thanksgiving break from Canada's under-20 soccer team, Lagonia is working out with her Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawk teammates at Laurier's Alumni Field before returning to the under-20 base in Vancouver.

The process by which she found her way onto the Canadian squad several months ago sounds simple enough.

"Coach Bob Birarda emailed one day saying he wanted to see me in a training camp out west," says Lagonia, who turned 19 in June.

"I thought it would be a weeklong camp, and I'd train for a few days and that would be it. But only 23 girls were at the camp with 20 going to Chile for the Four Nations Cup. I ended up being selected."

And Canada ended up winning the Torneo 4-Naciones in Melipilla, defeating the host nation 1-0 on Sept. 20. Lagonia was in the starting 11 and played the full gold-medal match.

She describes her first time on the field wearing a Canada jersey as "a great big blur for me. It all happened so fast. It was a challenge, but I noticed that I could compete. Walking out into the stadium, wearing the jersey, and hearing the national anthem was amazing. A dream come true," she says.

Yet the story behind Birarda's simple e-mail request betrays the years of hard work.

Lagonia toiled to hone her skills as a central midfielder with Grand River Collegiate, Kitchener Soccer Club, Burlington, and with the Waterloo Hawks.

She also played with the Toronto Lady Lynx, all of which culminated in her receiving her first cap playing for her country.

"It has been something that I wanted to do ever since I was young," she says.

The combination of assessments given to Birarda by the Lynx coach and Laurier Golden Hawks women's head coach Barry MacLean helped in her selection to the Canadian squad.

If you break soccer down into technical skill, tactical awareness in game situations, and physical and mental elements, a healthy supply is necessary to play at the international level.

"Coach Birarda said that my processing ability -- being able to see what is happening on the field around me -- is something I have over other players. Making quick decisions in a game is essential," says Lagonia.

Her Laurier coach MacLean adds that "tactically, Alyssa's a student of the game and follows coaching instructions very well. She's quick and has great endurance.

"Though she's strong in those basic soccer components, she also has a great attitude and work ethic. When practice is over, she'll stay to work with a ball. She lives and breathes the sport."

Lagonia has put her Laurier business studies on hold while she lives and trains in Vancouver. Returning to Alumni Field, she's realized how much she misses her teammates and life with her university squad.

"I always keep track of how everyone and the team is doing," she notes.

With her new international experience, Lagonia says that "if playing at the highest level is something young players want to do they should work hard and stay committed to training."

Hard work is exactly what she has ahead of her as she left for Vancouver Tuesday for two weeks training for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup running Nov. 19 to Dec. 7 in Chile (Canada is in Group C facing Japan, Congo, and Germany).

Lagonia will be working hard to crack the 21-player World Cup roster -- a moment she recognizes could make her dream even better.