Canada U-20 Women advance to semi-finals at 2018 CONCACAF championship

By Aldwyn McGill

Canada VS Trinidad & Tobago action

Canada advanced to the semi-finals of the 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship in Trinidad and Tobago, winning all three of their games and finished atop Group A.

The offensive power of the Canadian team proved to be too much for Haiti, Costa Rica and host Trinidad and Tobago. Scoring hat tricks for Canada were 16-year old Jordyn Huitema and Shana Flynn.

Canada Head Coach Bev Priestman watched her team outscore their opponents by an 11-2 margin while posting a shutout along the way.

The Canadians opened the tournament with a 3-1 win over Costa Rica followed by a wake-up call from Trinidad and Tobago. After giving up an early goal, Canada erased the deficit to register a 4-1 victory.

Coach Priestman’s tightened the screws defensively as Canada closed the group stage with a 4-0 shutout against Haiti to advance to the knock out stage.

Group B ended with a battle for top spot as USA prevailed over Mexico 2-1. The early match had Nicaragua manufacturing a late equalizer against Jamaica. The 2-2 tie gave Nicaragua the edge on goal difference and their first-ever point after 6 attempts all-time at the CU20W games.

Canada has advanced to the semi-final stage in every CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship since the tournament began in 2004 and has therefore qualified for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in every edition.

Canada won the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship in 2004 and 2008, placed second in 2006, 2012, and 2016; and, placed third in 2010.

The semifinals games are schedule for Friday with Canada against Group B second place finisher Mexico and Group B winner USA up against Haiti, the second place finisher of Group A. The Canada game kicks off at 16:00 local time and is available in Canada LIVE via CONCACAF at https://www.youtube.com/concacaf

 

2018 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship
Final Group A Standings
TeamGPWLDPts.GFGAGD
Canada33009112+9
Haiti3210668+6
Costa Rica3120357-2
T&T3030049-5

 

2018 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship
Final Group B Standings
TeamGPWLDPts.GFGAGD
USA3300962+4
Mexico3210672+6
Nicaragua3021126-4
Jamaica3021138-5