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Canada earned some redemption at the ISF Women's World Championships on Wednesday night.

Matching up against Australia for the first time since losing the bronze medal match to them at the Canadian Open in Surrey, B.C., Canada had one of their best outings of the tournament.

Star pitcher Danielle Lawrie and veteran short stop Jennifer Salling were absent in that loss but each of them were in town for Wednesday night's re-match.

Their presence provided an immediate impact for the team.

Lawrie pitched a complete game, blanking the Aussies over seven innings and collecting 11 strike-outs in a 2-0 win.

Lawrie said her transition back onto the team was easy due to the play of veteran catcher, Kaleigh Rafter.

"I felt really comfortable with her, which is huge,鈥� she said.

"There wasn't one moment out there where she wasn't calling what I wanted and that's so important. As a pitcher, I can't stress that enough.鈥�

Salling was equally impressive, patrolling the infield and gunning out the speedy Australian team on the base paths. She also helped seal the win by bringing home the second run of the night in the bottom of the sixth inning.

"Australia is a very credible team,鈥� she said.

"They've got good pitching, good hitting and good defence. They're a scrappy team so it's always good to get a win off of them.鈥�

Both Salling and Lawrie said they've been paying attention to the tournament while playing for their U.S. based professional teams and they're impressed with the way the Canada has performed.

"We've got a good combination of young and old players,鈥� said Salling.

"The young ones have come in like they've been here before and they are fitting in really nicely.鈥�

With round-robin play wrapping up tomorrow, the win helped solidify Canada's standing in Section B of the tournament.

Japan leads the division with a 6-0 record while Canada and Australia follow at 5-1 and 4-2.

Canada head coach, Mark Smith, described the win as a "statement game.鈥�

"We expected when we started the round robin that it would be between ourselves, Japan and Australia for first and second in the pool,鈥� he said.

"Historically we've been very close with Australia so this was an important game for us. It's a very good win.鈥�

Rafter brought in the first run of the game, sending Joey Lye home from second base with a deep single to centre field.

Canada would add one more in the sixth inning. With Victoria Haywood on third with one out, Salling was able to bring the run across with a grounder down the first base line.

"Tonight we looked like the team we're capable of being,鈥� said Smith.

"We just need to carry that through in the next four or five days.鈥�

Lawrie left the USSSA Florida Pride to join the national team and said the biggest transition comes off the field.

"Getting along with everyone is the more difficult than throwing,鈥� she said. "I've been throwing since March but there are a lot of new faces on the team. We got a nice practice in today and I was able to meet a lot of the new players.鈥�

Lawrie, who was a member of Canada's 2008 Olympic team and the 2010 bronze medal Worlds team, said this year's squad has swagger.

"The bottom line is they're competing and they're scoring runs. In the past I think that's been difficult to score runs on great teams and put up a lot of runs against not so tough teams.

"To push two runs against Australia is huge and that helps out the pitching staff and gives us confidence.

"I think this team might be young but there's a ton of veterans who are playing good ball right now. There's a swagger and people pick up on that and go from there. I think we've got great people leading.鈥�

Smith said having Salling and Lawrie in the line-up gave the team additional motivation in the highly-anticipated match-up.

"I think that was a spark for the team,鈥� he said.

"We have the two impact players, it means now we can take a real run at this team.

They've been part of this core group for four of five years. They're competition ready and they understand what it takes to compete. Any time you can add those elements to your line-up it's no question that they make us better and make the girls around them better.鈥�

Smith said the team has also been battling injuries, leaving the bench shorter than anticipated.

Heading into the quarterfinals, he said the health of the team is starting to come around and everybody is close to 100 per cent.

Canada will conclude round-robin play with a match up against Italy tonight at 7 p.m.

With the win against Australia helping cement their status as the number two team in their division, Smith said they still can't afford to take a game off.

"We're one of the few teams in this tournament with a bullseye on our backs and teams who play us, who don't have the reputation that we have, want to do well against us,鈥� he said.

"We've got to come out tomorrow and try and take care of that game early and then we'll focus on the play-offs.鈥�

Salling said she's grateful for the opportunity to be back with the team and hopes they can carry tier momentum into the play-offs.

"It's great to be back in the red and white,鈥� she said."Nothing's better than playing in front of your home crowd. It feels awesome.鈥�