June 18, 2008

PUEBLA, MEXICO - California women's soccer sophomore Alex Morgan earned an assist playing in her first-ever international match, representing the U.S. in the CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup Qualifying Tournament at Estadio Cuauhtemoc in Puebla, Mexico. Morgan received a pass at midfield, turned and played a through-ball to Michelle Enyeart, who put the ball past Trinidad & Tobago net-minder Kimika Forbes in the ninth minute of the match. Enyeart would go on to score two more goals on the day for a hat track.

The U.S. controlled the match from start to finish, but needed a little luck to escape an early scare when two Trinidad & Tobago players got behind U.S. defenders. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher came off the line and covered the ball before any damage could be done. A few minutes later, Morgan set off scoring for the U.S. with her assist to Enyeart.

The U.S. went up 2-0 in the 30th minute when Enyeart took a pass from team-captain Keelin Winters. The pass set Enyeart up alone facing Forbes, who surrendered her second goal of the day. Two minutes later, Kelly O'Hara put the U.S. up 3-0. In the second half, Enyeart completed her hat trick on an unassisted goal to put the match out of reach for Trinidad & Tobago.

With the win, the U.S. ties Mexico for points in Group A after the first day of matches. The U.S. is in second place however, due to a lower goal differential (+4 to +7). The top two teams from each group will play in the semifinals, and the top three teams in the tournament will advance to the 2008 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Chile. Eleven nations have already qualified for the U-20 World Cup: host Chile; Japan, China and North Korea from Asia; France, Germany, Norway and England from Europe; New Zealand from Oceania; and Brazil and Argentina from South America.

Morgan had a phenomenal freshman year for the Golden Bears, starting in 15 of the 17 games she appeared in. The 5-7 forward helped Cal to a 15-5-1 record and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament as she scored a team-high eight goals. She also put up two assists and led the team in total points with 18 in her first year on campus. Morgan was a Pac-10 Conference All-Freshman Team selection and earned honorable mention for all-conference honors.

Next up, the U.S. U20 team will face Cuba on Friday, June 20, at 10 a.m. (PT) before a clash with Mexico on Sunday, June 22, at 12:30 p.m. (PT). Fans can follow the match against Cuba live on ussoccer.com's Match Tracker.

U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team Game Report

 

Participants: U.S. Under-20 WNT vs. Trinidad & Tobago

Competition: CONCACAF Under-20 Women's World Cup Qualifying

Location: Estadio Cuauhtemoc - Pueblo, Mexico

Date: June 18, 2008

Weather: Warm, Sunny

 

Scoring Summary:

          1   2    F

USA  3   1    4

TRI    0   0    0

 

USA – Michelle Enyeart (Alex Morgan)                   9th minute

USA – Michelle Enyeart (Keelin Winters)                30th minute

USA – Kelly O’Hara (Kiersten Dallstream)              32nd minute

USA – Michelle Enyeart                                           76th minute

 

Lineups:

USA: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 19-Kiersten Dallstream, 2-Lauren Fowlkes, 4-Nikki Marshall, 3-Meghan Klingenberg;

25-Becky Edwards, 15-Casey Nogueira, 5Keelin Winters (9-Gina DiMartino 72); 13-Michelle Enyeart, 17-Alex Morgan (22-Sydney Leroux 60), 10-Kelley O’Hara (7-Nikki Washington 58)

Subs not used: 18-Kristin Arnold, 8-Kaley Fountain, 6-Elli Reed, 21-Ingrid Wells

Head Coach: Tony DiCicco

 

T&T: 1-Kimika Forbes; 3-Danielle Blair, 2-Ayana Russell, Jennelle Cunningham, 8-Iyesha Olliveirre; 7-Dernelle Mascall, 5-Annalis Cummings, 15-Nikeisha Noel (9-Shanelle Warrick 68), 19-Kenya Cordnet (12-Bianca Walker, 14), 16Candace Edwards (6Kenya Charles 80), 11-Karissa Rodney

Subs not used: 4-Kasara Gardner, 10-Avanelle Isaac, 13-Arielle Ramchand-Duque, 14-Avhlen White, 20-Julie Ann McDougall

Head Coach: Marlon Charles

 

Misconduct Summary:

None

 

Sierra Mist Woman of the Match: Michelle Enyeart

 

CONCACAF U-20 QUALIFYING

Group A

Team       W             L              T              Pts.          GF           GA           GD   

MEX         1              0              0              3              7              0              +7

USA         1              0              0              3              4              0              +4

TRI           0              1              0              0              0              4              -4

CUB         0              1              0              0              0              7              -7

 

June 18, 2008

USA 4, Trinidad & Tobago 0

Mexico 7, Cuba 0

 

June 18, 2008

USA vs. Cuba                                         12 p.m. CT

Mexico vs. Trinidad & Tobago                 2:30 p.m. CT

 

June 20, 2008

Cuba vs. Trinidad & Tobago                    12 p.m. CT

USA vs. Mexico                                      2:30 p.m. CT

 

Group B

Team       W             L              T              Pts.          GF           GA           GD   

CAN         1              0              0              3              2              0              +2

CRC         1              0              0              3              3              1              +2

JAM         0              1              0              0              1              3              -2

NIC           0              1              0              0              0              2              -2

 

June 17, 2008

Canada 2, Nicaragua 0

Costa Rica 3, Jamaica 1

 

June 19, 2008

Canada vs. Jamaica                                12 p.m. CT

Costa Rica vs. Nicaragua                       2:30 p.m. CT

 

June 21, 2008

Jamaica vs. Nicaragua                            12 p.m. CT

Canada vs. Costa Rica                           2:30 p.m. CT