March 12, 2010

LUCKY THIRTEEN
U.S. routs Cayman Islands 13-0

ALAJUELA, Costa Rica ---- The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team got hat tricks from Morgan Brian and Havana Solaun and Lindsey Horan and Isabel Farrell each scored twice in a 13-0 win over a severely overmatched Cayman Island in its second Group A match of the CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship.

The USA was ahead by 12 goals after 62 minutes and then cruised to the final whistle.

The result qualified the USA for the semifinals with one group match left to play.

Like the Americans did against Haiti on March 10, the first goal came less than two minutes into the match. Coming down the right flank, Kaili Torres slipped a ball through the Cayman defense into the right side of the penalty box for Horan, who went in alone on a breakaway. The tall U.S. striker dribbled almost all the way to goal before tucking her shot just inside the right post.

The Cayman team tried to pack the defensive end of the field, but after a few offside calls, the U.S. settled into a rhythm and doubled the lead in the 16th minute after Kaysie Clark ran down a ball in the left side of the box, turned toward goal and played a square pass for Brian to easily knock home from inside the six yard box.

Two minutes later, Torres ran onto a pass from left back Jaelene Hinkle and got behind the defense in the left side of the penalty area. She raced toward the net and slotted her one-on-one chance low into right corner.

In the 23rd minute a nice turn towards goal by Horan allowed her to slip the ball between two defenders to Brian, who dribbled at net and easily slotted her shot past charging Caymans goalkeeper Emily Kelley from 10 yards out.

Five minutes later Horan set up Brian again, putting her through with just the goalkeeper to beat and the U.S. captain pounded her shot into the left corner from 12 yards.

Solaun got her first goal of the tournament in the 35th minute, courtesy of Clark, who dribbled into the right side of the box and had her first cross blocked. The ball came back to her and she played a short square ball for Solaun to push into the lower right corner from six yards out.

Four minutes later, Brian returned the favor to Clark, assisting on her lone goal of the match. Brian deftly lifted a pass over the Cayman defensive line for the sprinting Clark, who then lofted her shot from just inside the penalty area over the ‘keeper and into the left corner of the net.

The eighth and final goal of the half came in the 40th minute off a cross from the right wing by Liedle. Horan settled the ball and rolled her shot into the lower left corner from 16 yards.

The six goals for Horan after only two matches tie her with Courtney Verloo for most goals by a U.S. player in a CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship, of which there have been just two, this year and in 2008.

The USA didn’t wait long to get goal number nine as less than two minutes into the second half Pecht raced into the right side of the box and cut a pass back to Farrell, who side-stepped a defender and bent a left-footer into the right side netting from 13 yards away.

After Ashley Spivey had replaced Horan at halftime, Clark went up top with Solaun and the two combined to move the USA into double figures. Clark, who had three assists on the night, beat several defenders in the left side of the penalty area and played a short square pass to Solaun who blasted her shot from eight yards past the Cayman ‘keeper.

Solaun completed her hat trick after Clark glided into the box once again, this time from the right wing, and crossed. Spivey couldn’t finish at the far post, but the Caymans failed to clear and Soalun just knocked the ball into the right side of the net from nine yards out.

Farrell got her second goal in the 62nd minute to make it 12-0 and Taylor Smith got the 13th just two minutes after entering the match in the 74th. The U.S. team possessed the ball for most of the remaining 15 minutes.

The USA came close to setting a record for most goals in a match by a U.S. Women’s National Team, which is 15 against Suriname in qualifying for the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup, as Liedle struck a penalty kick just wide left in the 68th minute after a Cayman Islands player had been called for a handball.

The U.S. will take on host Costa Rica with first place in Group A on the line on Sunday. The match will be streamed live at 8:30 p.m. CT on CONCACAF.com and shown tape-delayed on March 15 at 2 p.m. CT on Fox Soccer Channel. Fans can also follow the match on ussoccer.com’s Matchtracker.

The USA needs a win or a tie against Costa Rica, who defeated Haiti 2-0, to take first place in the group. The winner of that game will meet the second place team from Group B in the semifinal. The winner of that game will earn a berth to the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Trinidad & Tobago.