USA facing Costa Rica in semifinals of Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship

U.S. U-20 Women’s Youth National Team
USA vs. Costa Rica
2023 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship – Semifinal
Estadio Olimpico Félix Sánchez; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
June 2, 2023

U-20 WYNT FACES COSTA RICA FOR SPOT IN 2024 FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: After rolling through Group A at the 2023 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship with three wins, 15 goals scored and two allowed, the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team has earned itself a semifinal meeting with Costa Rica, the second-place finisher in Group B, with the winner earning a direct berth to the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, for which a host and dates have yet to be determined.

The USA’s semifinal match will take place on Friday, June 2 at 6 p.m. ET on 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. While the semifinal winners will go to the World Cup, and play for the regional title, the winner of the Third-Place Match will earn Concacaf’s third and final berth to the World Cup.

USA vs. COSTA RICA — HOW THEY GOT HERE: While the USA won all three group games, Costa Rica won its first two before falling to Mexico, 3-0, in the final Group B match that determined semifinal seeding. If the USA defeats Costa Rica, the U.S. U-20 WYNT will qualify for its 12th consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup at this age level, although the 2020 tournament was not played due to the pandemic.

DAHLIEN, SENTNOR LEAD USA WITH FOUR GOALS EACH: The USA’s 15 goals scored are the most of any team in the tournament so far and eight of those have come from forwards Maddie Dahlien and Ally Sentor, who each have found the net four times. For Dahlien, a rising sophomore at UNC, these are her first international matches at any level. Sentnor, a rising redshirt sophomore at UNC, is a long-time YNT veteran who played in the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, but this is her first Concacaf qualifying event. Six other U.S. players have scored and the USA benefited from an own goal vs. Canada that was forced by one of the marauding runs from winger Onyeka Gamero.

TOURNAMENT NOTES:

• After the start of Group A play was delayed two days due to heavy rains, and the group matches were pushed to May 26, 28 and 30, Concacaf decided to insert an extra rest day between the end of group play and the semifinals, which were originally slated for June 1 and now will take place on June 2. The tournament has also been extended a day and the Championship Game and Third-Place Match will take place on Sunday, June 4.
• Forward Onyeka Gamero leads the USA with two assists in the tournament.
• Forward Ally Sentnor has one assist to go with her four goals, making her the USA’s leading scorer thus far.
• Goalkeeper Valentina Amaral got her first start of the tournament and first U-20 cap vs. Jamaica on May 28. Amaral started two matches at the 2022 U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
• Goalkeeper Teagan Wy played the first and third group matches.
• Twenty of the 21 players on the roster have seen action so far with goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress the only player yet to see the field.
• Every player who has played has earned her first U-20 World Cup qualifying cap and 16 players have earned their first U-20 caps overall in this competition.
• S. head coach Tracey Kevins has spread the minutes around so far in the tournament. Center back and co-captain Elise Evans leads the USA in minutes played so far with 205, but 12 players have played more than 150 minutes, meaning the USA should be well-rested as possible for the semifinal in a tournament that demands U.S. team play four games in seven days.
• Against Jamaica, Sentnor scored the USA’s 300th goal in this tournament, a total that spans 12 competitions. That goal was her second of the game and the fourth of the game for the USA.

EIGHT WOULD BE GREAT: The USA has won a record seven Concacaf championships at this level, including six of the last seven. The first tournament, held in 2002, produced co-champions as the two group winners advanced to the first FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup without semifinals or a championship game being played, but the USA had by far the most goals of any team in the tournament. The USA then won six of the next nine tournaments, losing in the final to Canada in 2004 and 2008, and to Mexico in 2018.

The USA returned to the top of the podium in 2020, led by 13 goals from Mia Fishel, nine from Brianna Pinto and eight from Trinity Rodman, although that year’s World Cup would be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The USA won again last year, beating Mexico 2-0 in the title game on goals from Michelle Cooper and Talia DellaPeruta as the Americans rolled through seven victories and scored 44 goals with zero allowed.

The USA has advanced to the final at every Concacaf U-20 tournament that has held one, facing Canada five times and Mexico five times in the title match. The USA has compiled a record of 54W-2L-4D in this tournament. The U.S. has qualified for all 11 FIFA U-20 WWCs that have been contested for this age group (including the canceled 2020 tournament) and won the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in 2002, 2008 and 2012. 

2023 CONCACAF WOMEN’S U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER BY POSITION (COLLEGE OR CLUB; HOMETOWN; U-20 Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Valentina Amaral (Florida Kraze Krush SC; Oviedo, Fla.; 1), Mackenzie Gress (Penn State; Lyndhurst, N.J.; 0), Teagan Wy (California; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.; 3)

DEFENDERS (6): Tessa Dellarose (UNC; Grindstone, Pa.; 3/1), Ella Emri (San Diego Surf SC; San Diego, Calif.; 2/0), Elise Evans (Stanford; Redwood City, Calif.; 3/0), Savannah King (Slammers FC HB Køge; West Hills, Calif.; 3/0), Leah Klenke (Notre Dame; Houston, Texas; 3/0), Gisele Thompson (Total Futbol Academy; Studio City, Calif.; 3/1)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Jasmine Aikey (Stanford; Palo Alto, Calif.; 3/0), Sofia Cook (UCLA; Huntington Beach, Calif.; 2/0), Jill Flammia (Virginia; Manakin-Sabot, Va.; 2/0), Shae Harvey (Slammers FC HB Køge; Hermosa Beach, Calif.; 2/0), Ally Lemos (UCLA; Glendora, Calif.; 3/1), Lauren Martinho (North Carolina Courage Academy; Cary, N.C.; 2/1)

FORWARDS (6): Maggie Cagle (Virginia; Phoenix, Ariz.; 3/0), Madeline Dahlien (UNC; Edina, Minn.; 2/4), Jordynn Dudley (United Futbol Academy; Milton, Ga.; 1/1), Onyeka Gamero (Beach FC; Cerritos, Calif;.3/0), Kat Rader (Duke; Stuart, Fla.; 4/4), Ally Sentnor (UNC; Hanson, Mass.; 8/5) 

U-20 WYNT ROSTER NOTES:

• Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2004, are age-eligible for the 2023 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship. U.S. head coach Tracey Kevins selected 13 players born in 2004, seven born in 2005 and one, forward Onyeka Gamero, born in 2006.
• The roster consists of 13 collegiate players and eight players from youth clubs. Five of the youth club players are from California with two from Slammers FC.
• North Carolina (three players), UCLA (two), Stanford (two) and Virginia (two) are the colleges with multiple players on the roster.
• All the youth club players have committed to colleges: Gisele Thompson, Shae Harvey and Onyeka Gamero to Stanford, Savannah King to UNC, Jordynn Dudley to Florida State, Lauren Martinho to Duke and Valentina Amaral to Wake Forest. King, Dudley, Amaral will be entering college this fall while Thompson, Harvey, Gamero and Martinho are coming to the end of their junior year of high school.
• There are no holdovers from the squad that won the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship, but forward Ally Sentnor and goalkeeper Teagan Wy were part of the USA’s 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup roster. While Wy did not see action, Sentnor played in all three matches in Costa Rica and scored against Ghana.
• Six players on the roster were a part of the USA’s 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup team: goalkeeper Valentina Amaral, defenders Ella Emri, Savannah King and Gisele Thompson, midfielder Lauren Martinho and forward Onyeka Gamero. All saw significant action during the World Cup in India.
• Midfielder Shae Harvey was a part of the squad that won the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship in the Dominican Republic, a tournament in which she scored four goals, but she did not make the World Cup squad later that year.
• In that U-17 qualifying tournament, Martinho scored in the 2-1 victory against Mexico in the championship game, one of her four goals in the tournament. Gamero had five goals during U-17 World Cup Qualifying, including a tally in the 3-0 semifinal victory vs. Canada.
• Six players on the roster were a part of the U.S. team that won the 2018 Concacaf Girls’ U-15 Championship that was played in Bradenton, Fla. Those players are Maggie Cagle, Sofia Cook, Elise Evans, Kat Rader, Gisele Thompson and Teagan Wy. That team also featured current NWSL players in Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC) and Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC).
• Those three NWSL players are all age-eligible for this roster but were unavailable for this event. All three played in the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica and all three have scored in the NWSL this season.
• Defender Gisele Thompson is the younger sister of Alyssa Thompson, who was the top pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft by Angel City FC and has been starting for the club, scoring three goals so far this season as an 18-year-old rookie. Gisele was also a part of the squad that won the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship.
• Forward Maggie Cagle, who attends the University of Virginia, is the daughter of the former Kelly Walbert, a former professional player in the WUSA who played collegiately at Duke. Cagle’s mom is a former college head and assistant coach who earned one cap with the U.S. Women’s National Team, appearing vs. Trinidad & Tobago in 1994.
• Two players on the roster were named Freshman of the Year for their respective college conferences: Kat Rader in the ACC for Duke and Elise Evans in the Pac-12 for Stanford. In addition, UCLA midfielders Sofia Cook and Ally Lemos made the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team while Cagle, Tessa Dellarose (UNC), Leah Klenke (Notre Dame), Maddie Dahlien (UNC) and Jill Flammia (Virginia) all made the ACC All-Freshman Team.
• Three players from the U.S. team that won the 2020 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship have earned full U.S. Women’s National Team caps: defender Naomi Girma plus forwards Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman.

USA vs. COSTA RICA:

• The USA and Costa Rica have met four times at this tournament, but the most recent was in the opening game of the 2014 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in the Cayman Islands. The USA won 6-0 and current USWNT star Lindsey Horan scored a hat trick.
• The USA beat Costa Rica, 2-1, in the 2010 tournament (current USWNT midfielder Kristie Mewis scored in that one), 4-0 in the 2008 tournament (World Cup winners Meghan Klingenberg and Kelley O’Hara scored in that one) and tied 0-0 in the 2004 tournament, which is Las Ticas best-ever result against the USA.
• At the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship in the Dominican Republic, the U.S. team, featuring five players on this U-20 roster, beat Costa Rica 6-0. Onyeka Gamero scored in the game.
• Costa Rica has 14 players on their U-20 roster that played in that match last year against the USA U-17s.
• Like all the teams in this competition – there are 60 players in the tournament who play for schools or clubs in the USA – Costa Rica has a few U.S.-based players. Goalkeeper Genesis Perez plays at Monteverde Academy in Florida and Samira Roper plays at Eastern Florida State. The remainder of the roster plays for some of the top clubs in Costa Rica.
• Costa Rica has five players born in 2004, nine born in 2005, six born in 2006 and one born in 2007.
• Five of Costa Rica’s 10 goals in this tournament have come from midfielder Sheika Scott, who plays for Alajuelense. She bagged four in the opening game against Puerto Rico and one against the Dominican Republic.
• To earn its place in the 2023 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship proper, Costa Rica won Group F of pre-qualifying over Nicaragua, Guatemala, Belize and St. Lucia. The two games that pushed Costa Rica to the Dominican for this final tournament were 2-1 wins over Guatemala and Nicaragua, which was playing at home.
• Costa Rica scored 26 goals in the pre-qualifying tournament, let by seven from Alexa Herrera and six from Scott.