Georgetown, Guyana - Host Guyana and Bermuda registered crucial wins in Group E of the Concacaf Caribbean Women's Qualifiers (CCWQ) at the Lenora Track & Field on Friday.
Guyana, coming from behind, defeated Suriname 6-1 to move on top of the group with four points, the same as Bermuda, but with a better goal difference.
Suriname's Sabrina Rigters gave her side a promising 38th-minute lead, but the Guyanese rallied strong and hard for the convincing win.
Leading the Guyana fightback was Britanny Persaud with a double in minutes 40 and 67. She was supported by Brianne Desa (45th minute), Calaigh Copland (58th), Sydney Cummings (65th) and Tiandi Smith (88th).
In their opening game on Wednesday, Guyana and Bermuda drew 2-2.
On Friday, Bermuda ensured it stayed in the race when it repelled the challenge of plucky Barbados 3-2 in the other contest of the doubleheader.
Akeyla Furbert pushed the Bermudans into the lead in the 17th minute, but Felicia Jarvis ensured her team kept pace to go to the break even when she found the net in the 32nd.
But Teyah Lindo, following up on her brace in the opening match-up, got her third goal of the tournament when she hit the mark in the 68th minute for a narrow 2-1 lead.
Six minutes later, Deshae Darrell extended Bermuda's advantage, but Barbados was not in the mood to play dead and came storming back late with a goal from Caitlyn Padmore in the 89th.
Barbados, with its 2-1 win over Suriname, remain on three points and third in the standings. Suriname stayed pointless after two matches.
In the final round of games on Sunday, Suriname will take on Bermuda at 5:00 p.m., while Barbados challenges Guyana at 7:30 p.m.
Group C of the Caribbean qualifiers is currently being played in Trinidad and Tobago with the participation of the host, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, US Virgin Islands and Dominica.
Also, Group D is underway at the Antigua Recreation Ground where host Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, Curacao and St Vincent and the Grenadines are in a tussle for group honors.
Only the winner of each group advances to the final round of the Caribbean qualifiers that will take place from August 25 to September 2 at a venue to be named. Cuba (Group A) and Jamaica (Group B) have already booked their tickets to the final round.
The top three teams in the final round will qualify for the 2018 Concacaf Women's Championship from October 4 to 17 in the United States. Group A will be played in Cary, North Carolina, while Group B will be played in Edinburg, Texas.
The final stage will take place in Frisco, Texas, and the top three teams will qualify as representatives of Concacaf for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.
With the possibility of qualifying another Concacaf nation, the fourth-place team will engage in an intercontinental playoff against a country from Conmebol, the Confederation of South America.
