MACOYA, Trinidad (July 20, 2008) – Morgan Brian scored an unassisted goal in the 12th minute. Morgan is one of the youngest members of the u-17 national team. She played for u-15 Ponte Vedra Storm this past season.

The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team dominated El Salvador, posting a 9-0 win in their second match of Group A at the 2008 CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship. The U.S. was spurred by a hat-trick Olivia Klei, Morgan Brian, Tani Costa and Kathryn Bennett, who capitalized from the penalty spot.

With the win, the U.S. secures a place in the tournament semifinals on July 24 at Marvin Lee Stadium in Trinidad. In the second match of the evening, hosts Trinidad & Tobago played to a scoreless draw against Costa Rica, leaving them in second place in Group A with four points. The final match day will determine who finishes in first place and who advances in second place from Group A as the U.S. takes on Trinidad & Tobago at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 22, following the match up between Costa Rica and El Salvador at 5 p.m. ET.

“We’ve played two games and we’ve gotten stronger from the first to the second,” said U.S. U-17 WNT head coach Kazbek Tambi. “We’d like to have an excellent game against Trinidad (& Tobago) because we want to keep the momentum of the good soccer leading into the semis. At this point we’re still taking it game by game.”

Canada and Mexico have also booked a spot in the semifinals after winning their first two Group B matches. Both teams are tied in points with six, and will face each other in the final group match on Monday, July 21, to determine first place in Group B.

The match against El Salvador was a one-sided affair, with the U.S. getting 21 shots on goal to El Salvador’s zero. Nuzzolese opened the scoring for the United States in the fourth minute. Tani Costa received the ball with her back to the goal, dead center in front of the six-yard box. Costa was unable to turn with two defenders right on her back, but she managed to poke it left to Nuzzolese, who slotted it past Salvadorian goalkeeper María Rodríguez.

Five minutes later, defender Alexis Harris gained possession of the ball and carried it up the right side. Harris sent in a cross that barely went over Costa’s head in the middle of the six-yard box. Midfielder Klei had read the cross and was at the far post just in time to catch it on a one-time volley and send it past Rodriguez for the USA’s second goal.

Brian, the youngest player on the U.S. squad, added her name to the goal scorer list when Nuzzolese attempted a shot and was denied by the defense. The ball bounced off two defenders, right to Brian who had no qualms about putting away the rebound.

Klei dished out her first assist of the night in the 15th minute when she sent a text-book cross into the area from the left side. The ball sailed right to Costa’s head, and she deftly headed the ball into the goal. Klei assisted on two more header goals during the game. In the 27th minute, and again in the 37th minute, the U.S. earned corner kicks that Klei sent into the box. Both times, Brooks was there to slam home the header.

The seventh goal of the evening came on a penalty. Estefany Aldana fouled Brooks on the right side of the 18-yard box and Canadian referee Carol Ann Chenard deemed it a penalty kick. Bennett stepped up to the spot for the young U.S. Women, coolly sending the ball into the lower left corner of the net as Rodriguez dived the other way in the 51st minute.

Costa and Nuzzolese combined once again for the U.S. in the 64th minute, when Costa fought for a ball on the right side. Shrugging off a defender, she sent a cross to Nuzzolese on the left side of the goal. The ball stuck in between Nuzzolese’s feet and she recovered just in time to slot it into the back of the net.

Nuzzolese put the closing seal on the score in the 78th minute. Bennett possessed the ball in the middle of the field about 30 yards away from the goal. She sent a low, sharp pass straight forward to Nuzzolese, who had her back to the goal. Nuzzolese trapped the pass, turned on a dime and calmly slid the ball past Rodriguez to the right as the ‘keeper was coming out to cut off the angle.

“The goals were great because they were team goals,” said Nuzzolese, after the match. “(My teammates) found me a lot and we connected well and played as a team. Without them I wouldn’t have scored.”

Much credit goes to the feisty Salvadorian team, who did not let up the pressure throughout the entire match, getting their best chances to create danger in the 80th and 91s minutes. In the 80th minute, the Salvadorians connected on a series of passes, getting it up to Aladana who took it up to the top of the 18-yard box. But Aladana touched it too far ahead and U.S. goalkeeper Taylor Vancil was there to clear it out of danger.

In the first minute of stoppage time, Karen Landaverde slipped the ball through to María Siguenza behind the U.S. defense. Siguenza made it to the top of the area before Brooks came back to regain possession as Vancil was coming off her line.

The U.S., Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago are still alive in the hunt for a place in the semifinals, and are attempting to qualify for the inaugural FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, which will be held from Oct. 28-Nov. 16 in New Zealand. CONCACAF is the last region to qualify for the 2008 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, after Ghana and Nigeria clinched African qualifying earlier this month. Three teams will qualify from the CONCACAF region, including the two Under-17 Women’s Championship finalists and the team that finishes in third place.

The winner of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament will join Group C as the seeded team along with Japan, France and Paraguay. One other CONCACAF team will play in Group A with host New Zealand, Colombia and Denmark. The other CONCACAF qualifier will play in Group B with Germany, North Korea and either Ghana or Nigeria.
 

 

Match-up: USA vs. El Salvador
Competition: 2008 CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship
Venue: Marvin Lee Stadium; Macoya, Trinidad
Date: July 20, 2008; Kickoff – 4:00 p.m. ET
Attendance: N/A
Weather: 85 degrees, Mostly Sunny

Scoring Summary:
           1   2   F
USA  6   3   9
SLV   0   0   0

USA – Rachel Nuzzolese (Tani Costa) 4th minute.
USA – Olivia Klei (Alexis Harris) 9.
USA – Morgan Brian (unassisted) 12.
USA – Tani Costa (Olivia Klei) 15.
USA – Amber Brooks (Olivia Klei) 27.
USA – Amber Brooks (Olivia Klei) 37.
USA – Kathryn Bennett (penalty) 51.
USA – Rachel Nuzzolese (Tani Costa) 64.
USA – Rachel Nuzzolese (Kate Bennett) 78.


Lineups:
USA: 18-Taylor Vancil; 2-Crystal Dunn, 4-Alexis Harris, 3-Cloee Colohan, 20-Amber Brooks; 12-Morgan Brian, 7-Kathryn Bennett, 14-Olivia Klei, 5-Sydney Payne; 10-Tani Costa, 23-Rachel Nuzzolese
Subs not used: 1-Alexa Gaul; 16-Julia Roberts; 13-Kristen Mewis, 9-Samantha Mewis, 8-Erika Tymrak, 15-Victoria DiMartino, 6-Samantha Johnson, 24-Kelsey Wys
Head Coach: Kazbek Tambi

SLV: 25-Maria Rodriguez; 2-Telma Ramirez, 3-Estefanía Hernández, 7-Estefany Aldana, 8-Alba Duenas (15-María Siguenza, 66), 9-Adriana Flores, 10-Karen Landaverde, 11-Katerine Herrera (5-Erika Sánchez, 44), 12-Francisca Gonzalez (14-Laura Molina, 31), 16-Ingrid Fuentes, 17-Lilian Ayala
Subs not used: 1-Irma Melara, 4-Claudia Landaverde, 13-Karla Tutila, , 18-Adriana Miranda, 19-Yeiba Hernandez
Head Coach: Julio César Ramos

Statistical Summary:
       USA / SLV
Shots: 42 / 0
Shots on Goal: 21 / 0
Saves: 0 / 11
Corner Kicks: 9 / 0
Fouls: 8 / 8
Offside: 0 / 0

Misconduct Summary:
None.

Officials
Referee: Carol Ann Chenard (CAN)
Asst. Referee: Mayte Chavez (MEX)
Asst. Referee: Flor Escobar (GUA)
4th Official: Michelle Pye (CAN)

Sierra Mist Woman of the Match: Amber Brooks

Group A Results / Schedule
July 18
Costa Rica 0, USA 6
T & T 5, El Salvador 1

July 20
USA 9, El Salvador 0
T & T 0, Costa Rica 0

July 22
El Salvador vs. Costa Rica
T & T vs. USA

Group A Standings
Team  GP  W  L  T  GF  GA   GD  PTS
USA     2      2  0  0  15   0   +15    6
TRI       2      1  0  1   5    1    +4     4
CRC    2      0   1 1   0    6     -6      1
SLV      2      0   2  0  1   14   -13   0

Group B Results / Schedule
July 17
Puerto Rico 0, Canada 3
Mexico 6, Jamaica 0

July 19
Mexico 4, Puerto Rico 0
Canada 4, Jamaica 3

July 21
Jamaica vs. Puerto Rico
Canada vs. Mexico

Group B Standings
Team GP W  L T  GF   GA GD    PTS
MEX     2   2  0   0  10    0  +10    3
CAN     2   2  0   0    7    3    +4    3
JAM      2   0   2  0   3   10    -7     0
PUR     2  0   2   0   0     7    -7    0

Semifinals* – Marvin Lee Stadium
Date         Matchup Time (ET)
July 24     Winner Group B vs. Runner-up Group A   5 p.m.
                  Winner Group A vs. Runner-up Group B   7 p.m.
*Order of matches subject to change

Finals – Marvin Lee Stadium
Date         Matchup Time (ET)
July 27 Third Place Match 4 p.m.
              Championship 6 p.m.