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Bloor West Village native Rachel Goulding, a junior at the University of Ohio, made her 2008 World Cup debut in Chile yesterday playing on the Under-20 National Women's Soccer Team, which faced off against Japan in the tournament's second day.

"Playing for and representing Canada on a world stage is a bit nerve-wracking, but nothing beats the rush and adrenaline you get from it," Goulding told Ohiobobcats.com, the official website of Ohio athletics in a Nov. 12 story. "It is the greatest honour and a huge responsibility to have to represent your country. Putting on a Canadian jersey with my name on the back is an honour. It pushes me to represent things above and beyond me as an individual."

Goulding, 20, has been taking online courses since September when she began training with the team in Vancouver. She redshirted this past season to train and play internationally after making it through the first round of cuts at the Canadian U-20 World Cup Camp in August.

"She couldn't play any games for Ohio while she's been in residency camp in Vancouver for the Canadian team," her mother Grace Goulding explained in an interview Monday. "When she gets back from Chile�­- after Christmas- she'll go back and play the rest of the season. They get to keep her for an extra year."

The National women's team unveiled its roster Nov. 5. Coach Ian Bridge named the 21 players at a press conference in Richmond, B.C., where the team was training for its opening match. The lineup features five returnees from the 2006 U-20 Women's World Cup in Russia. This year mark's Canada's fourth straight U-20 Women's World Cup. The country's best result was its silver-medal showing at the 2002 tournament on home soil. In Chile, Canada is pitted against Congo, Germany and Japan (Group C). The top two sides advance to the quarter-finals. The tournament continues until Dec. 7.

"Oh, my goodness, it's an opportunity of a lifetime, a trip of a lifetime. It's the whole package that's not without stress, hard work," said Grace Goulding. "You're living, breathing, eating with a team. It's constant practice, training. It's a rigorous training program mentally and physically. It can be grueling at times."

It would seem that Goulding was destined for greatness on the soccer pitch. She has always played soccer, said her mother. She started playing for the West End United league when she was six. One season, she played on the all-star, boys and girls teams, Grace Goulding recalled. However, she had no inkling early on that her daughter would pursue a scholarship.

"She just did it because she loved it," Grace Goulding said.

Goulding would go on to play for the Etobicoke-Eglinton league as well as the Vaughn Azzuri Girls team when she was about 15 years old. Its mandate was to help any girl who wanted a scholarship get one, Grace Goulding said.

"The idea of a scholarship to a U.S. team hadn't entered our minds until then," Grace Goulding said.

Rachel Goulding received a full scholarship to Ohio. She looked at other universities, but chose Ohio for its coaches. "Everyone is asking me if the games are televised," Grace Goulding said. "CBC.ca is keeping close watch."