U.S. Defeats Rival Canada, Captures CONCACAF Championship

USWNT_Defeats_Canada_2018

After clinching a berth in the 2019 Women’s World Cup on Sunday, the USWNT only needed one more win to claim the CONCACAF Women’s Championship title.

Taking on rival Canada, the U.S. did just that.

Much like the other matches in the earlier stages of the tournament, the U.S. was on the board early. Rose Lavelle fired a strike from just outside the 18-yard box, beating Canada’s keeper for a 1-0 U.S. lead just minutes into the match.

The U.S. had the majority of the chances during the rest of the first half, but couldn’t connect passes in the final third or make shots on goal count.

After no subs for most of the second half, Carli Lloyd subbed on in the 88th minute. Just a minute later, Alex Morgan added an insurance goal for the U.S., sealing a 2-0 victory and giving the U.S. the CONCACAF Women’s Championship crown. For Morgan it was her 24th goal in the last 24 matches, including 17 this year and seven in the tournament.

Utter domination

The U.S. dominated the CONCACAF Women’s Championship from start to finish. Winning with a perfect 5-0-0 record, the U.S. is now unbeaten at 16-0-2 on the year. They are now 32-1-0 all-time in World Cup qualifying and haven’t conceded a goal in the tournament since 2010 against Mexico.

During this calendar year, the U.S. has not allowed a goal in 704 minutes, the last being against Brazil on August 2. They outscored opponents 26-0 in the five-game tournament, winning by scores of 5-0, 6-0, 7-0, 6-0 and 2-0.

Also with the win the U.S. has now won seven of the eight CONCACAF Women’s World Cup qualifying titles, only not winning the 2010 edition.

Awards

Much like they dominated the tournament, the U.S. dominated on the podium. The team was awarded the Fair Play Award, while Alex Morgan took home the Golden Boot, scoring seven goals in the five matches. Julie Ertz was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player and the U.S. had eight players named to the Tournament Best XI Team – Kelley O’Hara, Abby Dahlkemper, Crystal Dunn, Julie Ertz, Lindsey Horan, Tobin Heath, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan – all playing a vital part in leading the U.S. to its third tournament win of 2018.

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