EDINBURG, Texas -- Jamaica pulled off the surprise of the tournament to keep its semifinal hopes alive while Canada took over the Group B lead at the Concacaf Women's Championshp on Monday night.
Khadija Shaw scored in the opening minute of the second half and goalkeeper Sydney Schneider made sure that lead stood up with several vital saves to boost the Reggae Girlz, 64th in the FIFA rankings to a 1-0 upset of No. 34 Costa Rica at H-E-B Park.
The Jamaicans (1W-0D-1L, 3 points), who are trying to become the first Caribbean team to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup, bested a Costa Rican side (1W-0D-1L, 3) that had 15 players participate in the world championship at Canada 2015. The Jamaican need a win over Cuba and a Costa Rica loss to clinch a semifinal berth.
Despite the defeat, the Central Americans cling to second place due to superior goal differential over Jamaica (plus seven to minus minus).
In the second game of the doubleheader, Canada (2W-0D-0L, 6) scored early and often in a 12-0 victory over Cuba (0W-0D-2L). The Canadians need only a draw with Costa Rica here on Thursday night to clinch a spot in the semifinal round in Frisco, Texas.
Adriana Leon and Jordyn Huitema finished with four goals apiece and halftime substitute Christine Sinclair added one to give her 174 international goals. Rebecca Quinn, Deanne Rose and Diana Matheson also found the net.
