Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica strode into the Final of the Caribbean Football Union Women’s Under-20 Qualifiers, with victories over Dominican Republic and Cuba at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.
In a doubleheader which pitted the two English-speaking teams against the two Spanish-speaking teams, Trinidad & Tobago outgunned the Dominican Republic by two goals to one in the first encounter, with Patrice Campbell opening the scoring in the 13th minute. This spurred the Dominican Republic into action, and the team pushed hard against the Soca Princesses and came close to scoring in the 39th minute. The sustained pressure paid off minutes later however, when Yaqueisi Nunez Soriano got the ball past Tenesha Palmer and into the Trinidad & Tobago goal in the 44th minute.
With the commencement of the second half, the pace and physical nature of the game increased, as both teams tried to force the winning goal. With time diminishing and the scores level, a hard foul by Franyeli German earned her an immediate ejection from the field, when the red card was raised by Referee Carline Willis. With ten Dominican Republic players remaining, Trinidad & Tobago applied even more intense pressure and scored immediately, through Khadisha Debesette. The Dominican Republic never recovered from the twin blows of the dismissal and the goal, and, at the final whistle, the Soca Princess celebrated their entry into Sunday’s Final.
They will face the Jamaican team, who, after a period of intense end-to-end action, ultimately dispatched rivals Cuba 5-1 in the second match of the doubleheader. Khadija Shaw established the lead with a powerful header in the 18th minute, and, ten minutes later, Kayla Gray breached the Cuban goal in minute number 20, by beating goalkeeper Monica Padilla at the far post. Though Cuba increased the pace and intensity of the game in search of goals, Oshay Lawes increased the margin with a goal in the 64th minute. The Cubans quickly thereafter got the goal they were looking for, when the Tournament’s leading scorer, Yoanna Calderon Gonzanez capitalized on a goalkeeping error in the 70th minute, to firmly strike the ball across the line, making the score 3-1. Not satisfied with a two-goal cushion, Jamaica scored again in the 78th and 92nd (90+2) minutes, through Kayla Gray, who recorded a hat-trick in the process.
With this win and Trinidad & Tobago’s victory over the Dominican Republic, the Reggae Girls and the Soca Princesses will battle for the CFU Trophy on Sunday at 6pm, knowing they have secured the two remaining CONCACAF spots for the Women’s Under-20 Tournament in 2014. The Dominican Republic and Cuba will strive for third place, when the teams meet on Sunday at 4 pm.