San Cristobal, Dominican Republic - Puerto Rico and hosts Dominican Republic registered wins in Group A of the Concacaf Caribbean Women's Qualifiers (CCWQ) at the Estadio Panamericano here on Friday.
Puerto Rico shot to the top of the group on eight points with its 5-0 beating of Aruba as it wrapped up its schedule in the zone and will wait for Sunday's final set of matches to know its fate.
Micaela Castain led Puerto Rico with a double in the 3rd and 90th minutes, with single strikes coming from Adriana Tirado (25th), Nicole Rodriguez (87th) and an own goal by Joraine Maduro (38th).
Aruba, meantime, has three points from one win and two defeats and out of contention.
Cuba, which was idle on Friday, will have its chance to snatch top spot and a place in the next stage of Caribbean qualifiers with a win over Anguilla on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. local time. Anguilla is yet to earn a point after suffering three defeats in as many games.
In the other game of the day, hosts the Dominican Republic face Aruba at 4:30 p.m. to close out Group A action.
The Dominican Republic on Friday moved to third on four points with Friday's victory. Alyssa Jazmine Oviedo's brace in the 1st and 60th minutes spurred the host. The 3-0 romp was completed by an own goal by Shakeela Romney in the 58th.
Only the winners of the five CCWQ groups will advance to the final round of the Caribbean qualifiers to be held August 25-September 2.
The top three teams from the final round will qualify for the 2018 Concacaf Women's Championship October 4-17 in the USA. Group A of the confederation qualifiers is set to be played in Cary, North Carolina, while Group B will be contested in Edinburg, Texas.
The final stage will then take place in Frisco, Texas, with the top three teams qualifying as the CONCACAF representatives to the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.
The fourth-place finisher will engage in an intercontinental play-off for the possibility of qualifying another Concacaf team.
