USA defeats Canada 5-2 to win Group A at Concacaf U-20 Women’s Championship

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – The U.S. Under-20 Women’s Youth National Team rolled past Canada 5-2 to claim the top spot in Group A at the Concacaf U-20 Women’s Championship.

A brace from forward Ally Sentnor and goals from forward Madeline Dahlien and defender Gisele Thompson from the penalty spot, as well as a Canada own goal forced by forward Onyeka Gamero, earned the U.S. a convincing victory to remain unbeaten in the tournament.

After the USA clinched its spot in the semifinals with the 4-0 win against Jamaica on May 28, and Canada also won its first two group games, the match tonight against the northern neighbors was for first place in the group and seeding in the semifinal round. With the full nine points from the three first round games, the USA will now face Costa Rica, the second-place team in Group B, in the semifinal for a berth to the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

After the start of Group A play was delayed two days due to heavy rains, and the final group matches were pushed to today, Concacaf decided to insert an extra rest day between the end of group play and the semifinals. Therefore, the USA’s semifinal match will take place on Friday, June 2 at 6 p.m. ET (FS2). Mexico will face Canada in the other semifinal with that match taking place at 3 p.m. ET (Tubi). Both games will be played at Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez in Santo Domingo. The winner of both semifinals and the Third-Place match, which along with the Championship Game will take place on Sunday, June 4, will all qualify for the World Cup.

The U.S. got on the board in just the third minute as Dahlien – who tallied a hat trick against Jamaica last Sunday – opened the scoring after she sprinted more 20 yards to close down Canada goalkeeper Coralie Lallier, who had the ball at her feet. Dahlien capitalized on a heavy touch by Lallier, got into the tackle, and blocked the ball back towards the goal. It slowly rolled across the goal line inside the right post to give the USA the lead.

The Americans doubled the lead just eight minutes later as Sentnor got on the end of a perfectly played through-ball from midfielder Jasmine Aikey inside the box and finished with a powerful left-footed strike. The USA continued to dominate in the attack and came close to widening the margin in the 33^rd minute, but Dahlien’s near-second goal of the night was waved away due to offside by a VAR review. Still, the USA closed out the half with a statement after Dahlien was cut down at the top of the box and a VAR correctly ruled that the foul had taken place inside the penalty area. Thompson converted the kick low into the corner to send the USA into halftime with a commanding 3-0 lead.

The tide turned briefly in Canada’s favor in the 53^rd minute after an accidental handball by a U.S. defender Leah Klenke while she was attempting to clear resulted in a penalty kick, which the Orlando Pride’s Amanda Allen converted from the spot. The narrowed deficit didn’t last long, however, as the USA responded immediately. Sentnor tallied her second of the night just a minute later with a powerful strike from 12 yards out following a pass from midfielder Shae Harvey.

The U.S. then dealt damage once more in the 61^st minute as Harvey found forward Onyeka Gamero inside the box on the right side. Gamero dribbled past her defender and fired a shot that deflected off the foot of Canada’s Zoe Markesini, over the goalkeeper and into the net to extend the lead to 5-1. Canada managed to pull one back six minutes later as substitute Nyah Rose ran onto the end of a long ball down the left side and did well to cut inside and finish inside the near post, but the USA was never really troubled.

The USA ended up out-shooting Canada 17-5 and poured in five goals on a Canadian team that had scored nine over their first two games while allowing zero.

GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:

USA – Madeline Dahlien, 3rd minute: As Canada attempted to play out of the back, a defender passed back to the Canadian goalkeeper inside the box. Dahlien picked up the cue from over 20 yards out and sprinted to pressure, capitalizing on the ‘keeper’s heavy touch to black the ball into the back of the net on her first touch from point-blank range. USA 1, CAN 0

USA – Ally Sentnor (Jasmine Aikey), 11th minute: Aikey played Sentnor in on goal with a through ball into the left side of the box and the U.S. forward took a glance at goal from 10 yards out before smashing a powerful left-footed strike on her first touch inside the back post. USA 2, CAN 0

USA – Gisele Thompson (Penalty Kick), 45+1 minute: The USA earned a penalty kick after Maddie Dahlien was cut down while dribbling across the top of the penalty area. Thompson stepped up to the spot and converted into the corner as the goalkeeper went the wrong way. USA 3, CAN 0

CAN – Amanda Allen (Penalty Kick), 54th minute: -Canada earned a penalty following a U.S. handball inside the box on an attempted clearance. Allen stepped up and converted her shot into the bottom right corner to cut the deficit. USA 3, CAN 1

USA – Ally Sentnor (Shae Harvey), 55th minute: Harvey got the ball near the top of the box off a rebound and played a clever pass to Sentnor inside the box. She fired hard from 12 yards out into the left side of the goal in a quick answer back seconds after the USA had giving up a goal. USA 4, CAN 1

USA – Zoe Markesini (Own Goal), 61st minute: Shae Harvey found Onyeka Gamero in the right side of the box. She turned to beat her defender on the dribble and fired a shot level with the six-yard box that deflected off the toe Markensini and looped over the goalkeeper and into the net. USA 5, CAN 1

CAN – Nyah Rose (Ella Ottey), 67th minute: Ottey played a long ball down the left flank to Rose, who cut inside to beat her defender and finished low to the near post from 12 yards out. USA 5, CAN 2

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Forward Madeline Dahlien’s goal marked her fourth goal of the tournament and fourth career U-20 goal.
• With her two goals on the night, forward Ally Sentnor tied Dahlien as the team’s leading scorer at this tournament. Sentnor has now scored five goals at the U-20 level.
• Midfielder Jasmine Aikey’s assist to set up Sentnor’s first goal was her first assist of the tournament.
• Defender Gisele Thompson’s converted penalty kick marked her first goal at the U-20 level. Thompson scored once at the U-17 level, that coming the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup vs. India.

-U.S. Under-20 Women’s Youth National Team Match Report-

Match: United States Under-20 Women’s Youth National Team vs. Canada
Date: May 30, 2023
Competition: Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship
Venue: Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Attendance: 75
Kickoff: 6 p.m. ET
Weather: 84 degrees, humid, partly cloudy

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F

USA                            3          2          5
CAN                            0          2          2

USA – Maddie Dahlien                                   3^rd minute
USA – Aly Sentnor (Jasmine Aikey)              11
USA – Gisele Thompson (Penalty Kick)        45+1
CAN – Amanda Allen (Penalty Kick)              54
USA – Ally Sentnor (Shae Harvey)                55
USA – Zoe Markesini (Own Goal)                  61
CAN — Nyah Rose (Ella Ottey)                       67

Lineups:

USA: 1-Teagan Wy; 2-Gisele Thompson (13-Tessa Dellarose, 46), 5-Elise Evans (Capt.), 14-Leah Klenke, 3-Savannah King; 6-Ally Lemos (16-Jill Flammia, 46), 18-Jasmine Aikey (20-Sofia Cook, 73), 10-Shae Harvey; 17-Onyeka Gamero, 9-Ally Sentnor (15-Maggie Cagle, 81), 19-Madeline Dahlien (11-Kat Rader, 62)

Substitutes Not Used: 4-Ella Emri, 7-Jordynn Dudley, 8-Lauren Martinho, 12-Valentina Amaral, 21-Makenzie Gress

Head Coach: Tracey Kevins

CAN: 1-Coralie Lallier; 2-Mya Archibald, 4-Zoe Markesini, 14-Sophie Murdock (5-Clare Logan, 26), 3-Ella Ottey; 18-Jeneva Hernadez Gray (8-Ella McBride, 46), 6-Thaea Mouratidis (13-Florianne Jourde, 73), 7-Amanda Allen; 17-Kayla Briggs, 10-Olivia Smith (Capt.) (11-Rosa Maalouf, 46), 9-Annabelle Chukwu (12-Nyah Rose, 46)

Substitutes not used: 15-Jaime Perrault, 16-Renee Watson, 19-Jadea Collin, 20-Faith Fenwick, 21-Noelle Henning

Head Coach: Cindy Tye

Stats Summary: USA / CAN

Shots: 17 / 5
Shots on Goal: 7 / 4
Saves: 2 / 2
Corner Kicks: 3 / 1
Fouls: 8 / 8
Offside: 3 / 2

Misconduct Summary:

CAN — Zoe Markesini (Caution)         45
USA – Maggie Cagle (Caution)          83

Officials:

Referee: Katia Garcia (MEX)
1^st Assistant Referee: Mijensa Rensch (SUR)
2^nd Assistant Referee: Iris Vail (GUA)
4^th Official: Sandra Benitez (SLV)
VAR: Francia Gonzalez (MEX)
AVAR1: Selvin Brown (HON)