VANCOUVER -- John Herdman says Canada is getting closer. Cullen Gillaspia Jersey . After watching his team fall 2-1 to Germany in an international friendly on Wednesday night, the Canadian head coach was adamant the gap is shrinking between his side and the top teams in the womens game ahead of next summers home World Cup. Canadas starting roster included four teenagers, including 16-year-old midfielder Jessie Fleming, and while there were rough patches Herdman was buoyed by the performance against the No. 2-ranked team in the world. "A year out, 2-1 away from the European champions, a goal away?" said Herdman. "Ya Ill take that." Herdman is trying to implement a more free-flowing system ahead of the World Cup as opposed to the more direct, long-ball style of past Canadian teams. It has taken some time for the players to grasp the concepts, and fitness remains a concern, but they were right with the imposing Germans for long stretches on Wednesday. "Weve said this World Cups about two things," said Herdman. "Its about making the country proud, but also trying to inspire a generation of coaches and players at the youth level that theres another way of going about things other than the blunt instrument." Wednesdays lineup included Fleming, along with a trio of young defenders -- 17-year-old Sura Yekka, along with Kadeisha Buchanan and Rebecca Quinn, who are both 18. "These games, we said, this year will tell us what the gap is," said Herdman. "We improved. Im clear on that. "Were producing more crosses, more final acts, more final third entries than we ever did." However, the game was decided on a mistake by one of those youngsters as Simone Laudehr scored from the penalty spot in the 66th minute after Buchanan brought down Lena Lotzen. Laudehr stepped up with the score tied 1-1 and calmly blasted a shot into the roof of the past a helpless Erin McLeod for a lead the visitors would never relinquish. "Youre dealing against a different type of player," Herdman said of the German attack. "Youre not dealing against one individual player that you can mark out of a game. Youre dealing against three or four players that move with one mind at the same time, and thats a different challenge. It takes communication, it takes earlier adjustments." Lotzen had Germanys other goal on the night, while Sophie Schmidt replied for Canada. "Germany, theyre so organized," said Canadian captain Christine Sinclair. "Any little mistake you make theyre going to punish you and they punished us on a couple tonight. "Overall, just in terms of the style of play we were trying to produce, I think weve made a lot of progress. Its just cleaning those little things up." The German winner came after Schmidt woke up a sleepy crowd of 15,618 at B.C. Place Stadium in the 53rd minute with a bizarre game-tying goal. The Canadian midfielder completely scuffed her shot after taking a pass in the box from Diana Matheson, but the ball scooped up and over German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer for an unlikely equalizer. Trailing 1-0 at the half, Canada gave up two glorious chances to Germanys Anja Mittag that she couldnt finish just after the break. The striker was stopped by McLeod -- who came on for Karina LeBlanc at halftime -- in the 47th minute, and then again in the 49th after a sloppy pass by Fleming and a timid challenge from Quinn. "Theyll learn from that. If thats the biggest issue I think thats going to be cleaned up pretty quickly," said Herdman said of his teenagers. "Those mistakes are not going to happen as frequently and this is a great learning (experience) for some of those younger players." After Schmidt tied the score, McLeod stopped Alexandra Popp on another breakaway in the 58th minute as Germany continued to probe No. 7 Canada for a weakness that would eventually come in the 65th. McLeod made a number of big saves as second half wore down, keeping the score respectable in a game where Germany took a while to get going before showing its class. The Germans came close on two golden opportunities in the first half and finally struck in the 29th minute when Laudehr crossed a ball from the left that glanced off Mittag and right to Lotzen, who poked a shot home past LeBlanc. Sinclair had the games first opportunity when she was sent in alone in the 12th minute, but she was stopped Angerer. Popp then nearly caught LeBlanc off her line six minutes later, but saw her effort 40 yards out rattle off the crossbar. Canadian defender Rhian Wilkinson then nearly gifted the Germans the lead in the 24th when her ill-advised pass was intercepted by Mittag, but her shot in alone went over the bar. Buchanan scored her first goal for Canada in last months 1-1 draw with the United States, and nearly had her second in as many games two minutes later, only to be thwarted by Angerer. After Germany took the lead, the visitors almost got another goal moments later, but Bianca Schmidt missed a golden opportunity from six yards out. Canada, which has never beaten Germany, lost 1-0 to the European giants last year in a game where Herdmans team barely had the ball over the halfway line. He said that despite the scoreline and the chances surrendered in the final 30 minutes on Wednesday, the performance is reason for optimism with the start of the World Cup less than a year away. "We didnt get dominated. They didnt pen us into our half for 90 minutes," said Herdman. "I think thats a really positive performance. "The futures pretty bright." Notes: Sinclair and Angerer, who was named FIFA womens world player of the year for 2013, are teammates with the Portland Thorns of the NWSL. ... Canada will play Japan in an international friendly on Oct. 25 in Edmonton before the two teams meet again on Oct. 28 in Vancouver. ... Germany won the womens World Cup in both 2003 and 2007. ... Sinclair played her 210th game for Canada. She has 148 career goals for her country. ... The womens World Cup final will be played at B.C. Place on July 5, 2015. Andre Johnson Womens Jersey . The Blue Jackets play Thursday night at New Jersey in their first game after the NHLs Olympic hiatus. A native of Trencin, Slovakia, Gaborik has represented his country at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics but was unable to play in Sochi because of his injury. J.J. Watt Jersey . A fully booked flight forced me to leave two hours later. After a nice meal in which I studied the stats of the Argo win, I prepared to leave the restaurant. As I was gathering my things to leave many large individuals began to walk up and wait for tables. http://www.texansrookiestore.com/Customized/ . If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles.HOUSTON - One of the Houston Astros top priorities this off-season was to improve their infield, and the return of shortstop Jed Lowrie does just that.Lowrie played for the Astros in 2012 before he was traded to Oakland and spent two seasons with the Athletics. He rejoined the Astros on Monday when he agreed to a $23 million, three-year contract.We wanted to improve our infield particularly the output of our infield offensively, general manager Jeff Luhnow said on Tuesday when Lowrie was re-introduced in Houston.Jonathan Villar started 78 games at shortstop for Houston last season and hit just .209 with 18 errors. Marwin Gonzalez also saw time at the position, starting 64 games and batting .277.Lowrie said he felt he had some unfinished business with the Astros. He added he was excited to be part of a team thats been boosted by talented prospects who have reached the majors.Theres this influx of young talent that is coming through and theres a willingness to add those veteran guys as well, Lowrie said.The switch-hitter batted .249 with six homers and 50 RBIs last season. His best season came in 2013 when he played a career-high 154 games and hit .290 with 75 RBIs — both career bests.The 30-year-old had a big season for Houston in 2012 and finished with a career-high 16 homers in 97 games. He had a .980 fielding percentage that season to lead all shortstops in the National League. Hes a career .261 hitter with 56 homers and 284 RBIs in seven seasons.The Astros targeted Lowrie and aggressively pursued him, helping him move past the fact that Luhnow had traded him two years earlier.It was one of the contributing factors to making the decisioon, Lowrie said of Houstons bid to sign him. Deshaun Watson Youth Jersey. Being wanted and knowing where you stand with the organization is a good feeling.The Astros hope that Lowrie can help mentor some of the young players that fill the roster. Lowrie said his leadership skills were shaped by the four seasons he spent with the Boston Red Sox to start his major league career. That taught him that its more important to lead by example than to tell players what they should and shouldnt do.I learned a lot from those guys watching them and how they prepared for the game, he said. Thats one of the best ways for guys to learn. Ive never thought that it was appropriate to impose your will on a younger player.Luhnow saw Lowries leadership skills the first time he was with the team. He said in exit interviews at the end of the 2012 he asked each player to name which players they saw as good leaders.Almost everybody said Jed was a leader, Luhnow said. I know he has the leadership capability inside of him.New manager A.J. Hinch, who went to Stanford — as did Lowrie — was enthused to add another player from his alma mater. Catcher Jason Castro and 2013 top overall pick Mark Appel also graduated from the college.But I would have wanted Jed no matter what school he came from, Hinch said with a smile.Hinch said it was way too soon to envision where hell bat Lowrie, but likes that he can fit in a lot of different areas.To me theres a lot of comfort in knowing Jeds here, Hinch said. His preparedness stands out to me representing what were about moving forward.Houston designated infielder Gregorio Petit for assignment to make room for Lowrie on the roster. ' ' '