June 25, 2008

PUEBLA, Mexico - California sophomore Alex Morgan posted the game-winning assist to help the U.S. Under-20 Women's National team earn a berth to the 2008 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup after a 4-0 win over Costa Rica in the semifinal of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament at Estadio Cuauhtemoc. The U.S. will play rival Canada, 2-1 winners over Mexico in the other semifinal, in the CONCACAF Final on Saturday, June 28, at 12:30 p.m. PT. Fans can follow that game live on ussoccer.com's Match Tracker.

With two of the region's three berths to the World Cup secured by semifinal victories for the USA and Canada, the two semifinal losers, Mexico and Costa Rica, will fight for a trip to Chile in Saturday afternoon's third-place match, which kicks off at 10 a.m. PT.

The victory marks the fourth time the USA has qualified for the oldest of FIFA youth world championships for women. The Americans earned berths to all three previous tournaments that have been contested: Canada in 2002 (U-19s), Thailand in 2004 (U-19s) and Russia in 2006 (U-20s).

"Of course we're happy to be going to the World Cup," said head coach Tony DiCicco. "It's very important to win games, but I also want to play to our standard. I have to give credit to Costa Rica, they created a lot of problems for us in the midfield, but we hope to learn from that and play better against (Canada) on Saturday."

The U.S. scored four goals from four different scorers in the first half, and the defense did the rest, keeping its tournament-long clean sheet intact. Megan Klingenberg, Ingrid Wells and Jessica McDonald all scored their first goals of the tournament, while Kelley O'Hara scored her sixth to tie her for the team and tournament lead.

Klingenberg's goal came in the fifth minute, and was a culmination of a build up down the wing. The left back started the play by getting the ball into the corner for O'Hara, who made a move around her defender and played the ball across for Morgan. Morgan's shot attempt was stifled by a defender in the penalty area, but she was able to touch it to Klingenberg, who ripped her shot into the side netting from just 17 yards out.

Through four games in the tournament, Morgan has registered three assists, including two game winners, and a game-winning goal.

The USA and Canada met for the championship of the CONCACAF Qualifying Tournaments in both 2004 and 2006. Canada won what was a U-19 event in 2004 by a 2-1 score in overtime while the USA won the 2006 encounter, 3-2. 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.

For complete recaps and up-to-date results from the 2008 CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup Qualifying Tournament, please visit www.ussoccer.com

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

Participants: U.S. Under-20 WNT vs. Costa Rica
Competition: CONCACAF Under-20 Women's World Cup Qualifying
Location: Estadio Cuauhtemoc - Pueblo, Mexico
Date: June 25, 2008
Weather: Chilly, Rainy


Scoring Summary: 

          1  2   F
USA       4  0   4
CRC       0  0   0


USA - Meghan Klingenberg (Alex Morgan) 4th minute
USA - Ingrid Wells (Becky Edwards) 15.
USA - Kelley O'Hara (Meghan Klingenberg) 20.
USA - Jessica McDonald (Michelle Enyeart) 44.


Lineups: 
USA: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 19-Kiersten Dallstream, 8-Kaley Fountain, 4-Nikki Marshall, 3-Meghan Klingenberg; 25-Becky Edwards, (11-Christine Nairn, 69) 5-Keelin Winters, 21-Ingrid Wells; 17-Alex Morgan (14-Jessica McDonald, 42), 10-Kelley O'Hara (7-Nikki Washington, 46), 13-Michelle Enyeart
Subs not used: 9-Gina DiMartino, 2-Lauren Fowlkes, 18-Kristin Arnold, 22-Sydney Leroux
Not available: Casey Nogueira, Elli Reed
Head Coach: Tony DiCicco


CRC: 1-Prisilla Tapia: 12-Daniela Cruz, 8-Monica Malavassi, 10-Katherine Alvarado, 11-Raquel Ceden, 2-Gabriela Guillen (20-Wendy Acosta, 29), 16-Yuliana Rodriguez, 14-Silva Betancourt (15-Cristin Granados, 46;19-Maria Fuentes, 89)5-Adriana Rodriguez, 3-Maria Isabel Barquero, 17-Adriana Venegas
Subs Not Used: 4-Sharon Gonzalez, 6-Fabiola Sanchez, 7-Priscila Torres, 9-Paola Alvarado, 13-Jacqueline Mata, 18-Maria Arias, 15-Cristin Granados
Head Coach: Juan Diego Quesada


Misconduct Summary: 

CRC - Katherine Alvarado (caution) 17th minute
CRC - Monica Malavassi (caution) 39.
USA - Becky Edwards (caution) 51.


Statistical Summary:
          USA/CRC
Shots 16 / 8
Shots on Goal 7 / 2
Saves 2 / 3
Corner Kicks 3 / 1
Fouls 5 / 15
Offisides 3 / 2


Sierra Mist Woman of the Match: Meghan Klingenberg