BRADENTON, Florida – A pair of goals from FW Andersen Williams (19’, 50’) led Canada (2W-0D-0L, 5GF, 1GC) to a 2-1 victory over Costa Rica (0W-0D-2L, 1GF, 6GC) at the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship.
With the win, Canada have clinched a spot in the knockout round, while a United States win over Bermuda in Wednesday’s second match would eliminate Costa Rica.
Canada had the bulk of possession to start and struck on its first chance in the 19’ to take a 1-0 lead.
A long ball was lofted into the Costa Rican penalty area for Jordyn Huitema, who collided with Costa Rica GK Fabiana Solano and the rebound fell perfectly for Andersen Williams to latch onto and fire into net for the goal.
Las Ticas looked to react by increasing the pressure on the Canadian defense, but Williams would once again put her goalscoring abilities on display in the 50’.
The Vancouver Whitecaps forward won a ball near midfield and charged at the Costa Rican defense before unleashing a right-footed strike that beat Solano to make it 2-0 to Canada.
Solano kept Costa Rica within shouting distance with a fingertip save in the 57’, and then Maria Paula Salas set up a dramatic finale by pouncing on a rebound in the 85’ off a blocked Priscilla Chinchilla shot, cutting the Canada leaf to 2-1.
In the end though, Canada managed to fend off Costa Rica’s late charge to pocket the three points.
