SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – The United States cruised past Canada and into the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship semifinals with a 4-0 victory at Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez on Wednesday.
A brace from forward Mia Fishel and goals from midfielder Brianna Pinto and defender Kennedy Wesley helped the USA record its largest victory over the Canadians.
The U.S. advanced to an semifinal match-up against the host Dominican Republic. The winner will earn a berth to the 2020 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica and Panama.
The Dominican Republic upset Jamaica 2-1 in an earlier quarterfinal.
Kickoff for the USA-Dominican Republic semifinal at Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez is set for 2 p.m. ET on Friday. The game will be broadcast live on Concacaf Go, Concacaf Facebook, Concacaf YouTube and TUDN Xtra.
U.S. head coach Laura Harvey made four changes from the Starting XI that faced St. Lucia in the Round of 16. The USA dominated possession early and looked more likely to find the back of the net first, hitting the woodwork twice in the opening 30 minutes.
The missed chances did not slow the U.S. down as the young Americans pressed on and opened the scoring off a Jenna Nighswonger corner kick in the 35th minute. The service was punched in the air by Canada goalkeeper Anna Karpenko and defender Naomi Girma headed the ball down and straight to the foot of Fishel, who flicked an overhead shot into the net for the opening goal.
Moments later, the U.S. doubled its lead as Girma again created the scoring chance, this time finding Pinto all alone inside the box in the 41st minute. Fishel and Pinto have scored a combined 16 goals, the second-most of any two teammates at this tournament.
With a two-goal advantage at the break, the U.S. did not let up. In the 54th minute, another corner kick resulted in another goal for the USA as Wesley headed in a ball from Katelyn Duong to extend the lead to 3-0. Fishel capped off the scoring for the U.S. in the 67th minute as the forward finished a through ball from Alexa Spaanstra for her second of the game. The result means that Canada will miss consecutive U-20 Women’s World Cups for the first time. At the 2018 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship, Canada lost to Haiti in the third-place game to miss out on the U-20 WWC in France.
Fishel’s 10 goals are good for second-most in the tournament.While she contributed two in the quarterfinals, the Americans showcased their depth and versatility by also recording two assists and goal from defenders.
The USA allowed just two total shots, one on goal, while outshooting its northern neighbors, 20-2. Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey picked up the shut out in goal for the USA, her third of the tournament as the U.S. has yet to concede in the Dominican Republic.
