After converting a penalty kick for Trinidad & Tobago in a CONCACAF Women's Championship game against Guatemala on October 20, 2014, in Washington, D.C., Maylee Attin Johnson (left) is congratulated by teammate Mariah Shade. (Photo: Mexsport)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kennya Cordner and Maylee Attin Johnson each scored in the second half goals to lift Trinidad & Tobago to a 2-1 win over Guatemala in the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship (CWC) at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium on Monday night.
The Trinidadians (2-0-1, 6 points. +1GD) currently sit second in Group A on goal difference behind the United States (2-0-0, 6 points, +6GD), which needs only a tie against Haiti later in the evening to advance to the semifinals. That result or an American win would also give Trinidad a place in the knockout rounds.
While the Soca Princesses had ample attacking opportunities, Guatemala held firm until the 73rd minute. Trinidad took a 1-0 lead, when an unmarked Cordner headed home Ahkeela Mollon’s right-sided cross.
Cordner, who scored Trinidad’s winner against Haiti on Friday, was a threat throughout the game and proved pivotal in the second goal 10 minutes later. Her weaving run through the Guatemalan defense drew contact in the box, obliging referee Lucila Venegas to point to the spot. Attin Johnson, the Trinidad captain, stepped up and slotted penalty kick into the bottom right corner.
The Guatemalans would pull a goal back – their first in 12 CWC games – in the 90th minute. Kimberley De Leon’s free-kick was flicked in by Maria Monterroso past Trinidad goalkeeper Tenesha Palmer.
Offensively, Trinidad was frustrated for most of the match. In the 20th minute, Cordner collected a ball in the box, but flashed her shot high.
Second-half substitute Mariah Shade shot wide from 12-yards out in the 54th minute off a pass from Dernelle Mescall.
Guatemala had a chance to take the lead late in the first half only for Palmer to come off her line and block an Ana Lucia Martinez effort in the 37th minute.
