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Morgan Brian Scores Two As USA Gets Past Costa Rica
ALAJUELA, Costa Rica (March 14, 2010) – The U.S. Under-17 Women’s
National Team earned its third straight blowout win at the CONCACAF U-17
Women’s Championships, defeating host Costa Rica 10-0 to take first place in
Group A.
The USA scored five goals in each half as forward Taylor Smith recorded a
hat trick, Lindsey Horan and Morgan Brian had two goals each and Alex Doll,
Kaili Torres and Jennifer Gonzalez tallied single scores.
The USA had already qualified for the semifinals after dominating victories
in the first two group games and will now face the second place team from
Group B – either Mexico or Canada – in the one of the semifinal matches on
March 18. The winners of the two semifinals will earn berths to the 2010
FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Trinidad & Tobago.
The USA will have to wait until the completion of Group B action tomorrow to
find out its semifinal opponent and if it will play in the first semifinal
at 6 p.m. ET (4 p.m. local) or the second at 9 p.m. ET (7 p.m. local). Costa
Rica finished second in Group A and will play the first place team from
Group B in the semis.
The Costa Rican fans serenaded their players with “Si Se Puede” at the
beginning of the match, but it didn’t take long for it to become clear that
the Americans were of a different level.
The U.S. started out playing at a blistering pace, but the lights went out
in the 10th minute – literally – as three of the four banks in the stadium
went dark, forcing a 30-minute delay.
Once play resumed, it only took the U.S. only about 45 seconds to open the
scoring and it came courtesy Smith.
The goal came after Horan put Cari Roccaro free down right side and she
crossed from almost flush on the sideline to the far post. Alex Doll got to
the ball and first-timed it back into the middle, where Smith re-directed
the bouncing ball with her head into the right corner.
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