U.S. U-17 Women rotate lineup, still smash Guatemala 7-0 at CONCACAF championship
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team recorded its second straight lopsided victory at the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship, routing Guatemala by a 7-0 score in rainy conditions at the Montego Bay Sports Complex.
Forward Zoe Redei made an impressive U-17 WNT debut, scoring the USA’s first four goals. Midfielder Dorian Bailey and defender Gabriella Carreiro converted penalty kicks late in the game while forward Kelcie Hedge added a goal in second-half stoppage time.
U.S. head coach B.J. Snow rested six starters, including players who scored four of the eight goals against Trinidad & Tobago, and started both of his squad’s underage 14-year-olds, Frankie Tagliaferri at holding midfield and Civana Kuhlmann at forward. But it mattered little as their 4-3-3 formation, featuring a front line of Kuhlmann, Zoe Redei and Kelcie Hedge, out-shot Guatemala 38-2.
Mia Gyau, daughter of retired professional player Philip Gyau and sister of former U.S. youth international Joe Gyau, started and played 90 minutes at fullback.
With the victory, the U.S. clinched first or second in Group B and a spot in the semifinals. In the other Group B match, Canada defeated Trinidad & Tobago 11-0, putting Canada atop Group B on goal differential. The results means the USA needs to defeat Canada in its final first round match on Monday, Nov. 4 to win the group. That match will be shown on FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Soccer 2GO (live at 6 p.m. ET).
“I was pleased with their aggression and mentality and focus to execute the game plan,” said Snow. ” We started eight new players in this game and they went through all the emotions that our players in the first game when through. … I think all things considered, we grew up as a team tonight, we got the result that we wanted, we got the chance to play in the semifinal, which was ultimately our goal, and we still have the opportunity to win our group in the next game. We’ll enjoy this game tonight and get ready for Canada tomorrow.”
The top two finishers in each group will cross over with the first-place team in Group A playing second in Group B and vice-versa. The semifinal winners on Thursday, Nov. 7, earn CONCACAF’s two berths to the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup being held next March in Costa Rica.
U.S. head coach B.J. Snow made eight changes to the starting lineup that opened the tournament with an 8-0 victory against Trinidad & Tobago on Oct. 31 and the USA now has 11 different goal scorers in the competition, meaning more than half the roster has gotten on the score sheet.
Like against Trinidad & Tobago in the USA’s opening match, the young Americans started a bit tentatively, and Guatemala packed its defensive third with players for the entire match, giving the Americans little space in the attacking third. Guatemala did launch several dangerous looking counter-attacks early on, but center-backs Taylor Otto and Natalie Jacobs ran everything down.
After the USA settled into the game a bit, Redei opened the scoring in the 21st minute and would later become the first U.S. Women’s National Team player to score four times in her first cap. The goal came off a great individual effort after she received the ball from 14-year-old Frankie Tagliaferri on the left sideline. Redei sped past two Guatemala defenders, cut the ball inside to her right foot and shot from just outside the box, powering her low drive just inside the left post past a diving Guatemala goalkeeper Angie Hidalgo.
In the 32nd minute, a miscommunication between a defender and Hidalgo led to Redei’s second tally. Hidalgo took a poor goal kick, the ball was played back toward her, but Redei intercepted as the goalkeeper plowed over her own defender and the U.S. striker finished into the open net for the 2-0 lead.
Redei completed her hat trick in the 36th minute when a corner kick from the left bounced off Otto in the middle of the box. The deflected the ball toward Redei, who had her back to the goal with Guatemala’s Isabella Salas loosely defending her. Redei brought the ball to her left to elude Salas and fired a shot into left side of the net take make the lead 3-0 heading into halftime.
Early in the second half, Redei scored her fourth after Hidalgo botched what appeared to be a relatively simple opportunity to fall on the ball at the edge of the six-yard box. When the rolling ball got past Hidalgo, Redei capitalized again with an open-net goal in the 49th minute.
Bailey and Carreiro each drew a foul in the box during the final 10 minutes of regulation, and they both converted their penalty kicks in the 84th and 89th minutes, respectively, to push the lead to 6-0. Bailey’s score was her first of the tournament and the third in her U-17 WNT career. Carreiro’s goal was her first U-17 international score as she was also making her international debut.
The final goal came about 20 seconds into stoppage time as Hedge launched a dipping shot from distance that Hidalgo scrambled back to her line to deflect. The Guatemala goalkeeper batted the ball up in the air and behind her, but the assistant referee ruled that the ball had fully crossed the line and Hedge was awarded her first goal of the tournament and second of her U-17 career.
Guatemala’s best scoring chance came early on in the match when Aisha Solòrzano hustled to create the first shot of the game – and the first of the tournament against the U.S. defense — in just the second minute. Otto broke up the attack, which gave up a Guatemala corner kick, and it was a totally dominant effort for the U.S. from that point on.
The age cut-off for the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is players born on or after Jan. 1, 1997. Twelve of the 20 players on the roster were born in 1997, six were born in 1998 and two in 1999.
-U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team Match Report-
Match: U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team vs. Guatemala
Date: Nov. 2, 2013
Competition: CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship
Venue: Montego Bay Sports Complex; Montego Bay, Jamaica
Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT
Attendance: 1,200
Weather: 79 degrees, rainy, humid
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 3 4 7
GUA 0 0 0
USA – Zoe Redei (Frankie Tagliaferri) 21st minute
USA – Zoe Redei 32
USA – Zoe Redei (Taylor Otto) 36
USA – Zoe Redei 49
USA – Dorian Bailey (penalty kick) 84
USA – Gabriella Carreiro (penalty kick) 89
USA – Kelcie Hedge 90+1
Lineups:
USA: 18-Kat Hess; 7-Mia Gyau, 13-Taylor Otto, 6-Natalie Jacobs, 5-Gabriella Carreiro; 14-Taylor Racioppi (capt.) (9-Zoe Morse, 78), 25-Frankie Tagliaferri, 19-Anika Rodriguez (22-Maddy Schultz, 67); 11-Civana Kuhlmann (2-Dorian Bailey, 46), 15-Zoe Redei, 8-Kelcie Hedge
Substitutions Not Used: 1-Lauren Rood, 3-Madison Haley, 4-Marley Canales, 10-Ellie Jean, 12-Tegan McGrady, 17-Mallory Pugh
Head coach: B.J. Snow
GUA: 1-Angie Hidalgo; 3-Sara Fetzer, 2-Isabella Salas, 4-Pamela Monterroso (capt.), 16 -Kellin Mayèn; 6-Jennifer Barrios, 15-Cindy Granda, 8-Laurent Marwith, 11-Andrea Rabanales (7-Kelsie Castellanos, 77); 10-Aisha Solòrzano (5-Alison Garcìa, 56), 9-Madelyn Ventura
Substitutions Not Used: 12-Natalie Schaps, 13-Lesli Cal Gamarro, 14-Marìa Barillas, 17-Marìa Contreras, 18-Hercilia Cabrera, 19-Anika Schaps Calderòn, 20-Beberly Montufar
Head coach: Benjamin Monterroso
Stats Summary: USA / GUA
Shots: 38 / 2
Shots on Goal: 12 / 0
Saves: 0 / 5
Corner Kicks: 7 / 0
Fouls: 8 / 5
Offside: 3 / 0
Misconduct Summary:
None
Officials:
Referee: Pastrana Borjas (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Yudilla Briones Covarrubias (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Yajaira Astacio Pena (DOM)
Fourth Official: Francia Gonzalez Martinez (MEX)
Woman of the Match: Zoe Redei
