Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher stopped three penalties and scored one herself to help the U.S. win a shootout after Canada rallied twice to tie it 2-2 after extra time in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup semifinals on a dramatic, soggy night in San Diego.
Lindsey Horan, Sophia Smith and Naeher scored from the spot for the second-ranked Americans. Quinn, who goes by one name, was the lone Canadian to score from the spot with Naeher denying Adriana Leon, Jordyn Huitema and Jessie Fleming.
American Korbin Albert sent her kick over the crossbar.
WATCH l Naeher lifts U.S. over Canada:
Canada falls to U.S. in W Gold Cup semifinal on penalty kicks
9 hours ago
Duration 0:57
Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher stops three penalties and scores one herself as the United States wins 3-1 in a shootout after Canada rallied twice to tie it 2-2 in the semifinals of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup.
Canada came back twice with goals in the 82nd minute from Huitema and the 127th minute from Leon, also from the penalty spot.
Smith gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead with a 99th-minute goal. American Emily Sonnett pumped the ball forward and Rose Lavelle outjumped Canadian defenders Jade Rose and Vanessa Gilles to head it towards an unmarked Smith in the penalty box to hammer home.
GOAL ????????????????<br><br>ADRIANA LEON SCORES AND WE ARE GOING TO PENALTIES ????<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CanWNT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#CanWNT</a> | <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/USWNT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#USWNT</a> <a href=”https://t.co/Jf9PEhTdrk”>pic.twitter.com/Jf9PEhTdrk</a>
Canada pressed in the dying moments and there was more late drama when Naeher took out Gilles as they both contested a high ball in the box, sending Mexican referee Katia Garcia to the pitchside monitor.
Garcia pointed to the penalty spot and Leon beat Naeher to tie it up for her sixth goal of the tournament
It had seemed like Canada’s tournament would end in a 1-0 loss on a rain-drenched pitch at Snapdragon Stadium, thanks to teenager Jaedyn Shaw’s 20th-minute goal.
But Huitema rescued Canada, heading home an Ashley Lawrence cross after some dogged work by Leon on the edge of the U.S. penalty box. It was Huitema’s 21st goal in 78 appearance for Canada.
GOAL ????????<br><br>JORDYN HUITEMA.<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CANWNT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#CANWNT</a> 1-1 <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/USWNT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#USWNT</a>.<br><br>Game. On.<br><br>???? Watch LIVE on OneSoccer <a href=”https://t.co/U0Cj0VJkn4″>pic.twitter.com/U0Cj0VJkn4</a>
The Canadians kept coming and the U.S. was hanging on in second-half stoppage time.
Just moving the ball was an adventure, especially in the first half. Conditions improved as the rain subsided after halftime, which saw stadium workers use squeegees to reduce the surface water.
But the damage was done for Canada early as the 19-year-old Shaw became the first U.S. woman to score in her first four starts.
Brazil-U.S. final
The second-ranked Americans will face No. 11 Brazil in Sunday’s final at the same venue. The winner collects $1 million US in prize money with $500,000 to the runner-up.
For 10th-ranked Canada, it was a disappointing end to the tournament on a night when the pitch prevented players from executing basic skills at times.
The conditions certainly played a part in Shaw’s goal. Gilles’s attempted back pass stopped halfway to goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan and the chasing Shaw overtook the surprised defender and knocked the ball past an onrushing Sheridan, her teammate on the San Diego Wave.
The goal by Shaw, in her ninth U.S. appearance, was the first conceded by Canada at the tournament.
Jaedyn Shaw of the U.S. celebrates after scoring the opening goal as Canada’s Jade Rose looks on during the first half on Wednesday. (Gregory Bull/The Associated Press)
Canada captain Jessie Fleming appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty after going down in the 48th minute, seemingly after U.S. defender Tierna Davidson made contact in the penalty box.
How wet was it? Gilles was wringing water out of her jersey one minute into the game. And there were pools of water on the grass pitch slowing the ball down or stopping it completely.
Afterward, U.S. coach Twila Kilgore was asked whether the game should have been played.
“Probably not. But those decisions aren’t my decisions,” she said. “If the referees make those decisions, and the game goes on, it’s our job to figure out how to win.”
In the 11th minute, American attacker Trinity Rodman had a jump on a Canadian defender and headed toward goal only to outrun the ball when it stopped moving. Every movement sent up a water spray.
Asked about the decision to go ahead with the game in such conditions, a CONCACAF spokesman said: “It is solely at the discretion of the referee as to whether the field is safe and playable.”
Brazil blanked No. 35 Mexico 3-0 in the earlier semifinal.
Mexico was reduced to 10 players when defender Nicolette Hernandez, after video review, was sent off in the 30th minute for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity after Brazilian forward Bia Zaneratto was felled on the edge of the penalty box.
The U.S. were a step up in class for Canada after previous wins over No. 104 El Salvador, No. 50 Paraguay and No. 43 Costa Rica in Houston by a combined score of 13-0. Canada, the top seed in the knockout round, then met eighth-seeded Costa Rica again in Saturday’s quarterfinal in Los Angeles, winning 1-0 after extra time.
The U.S. advanced as the fourth seed, with a 3-0 win over No. 23 Colombia, the fifth seed, on Sunday.
WATCH l Canada edges Costa Rica in quarterfinals:
Canada beats Costa Rica with Viens’ extra-time winner, advances to W Gold Cup semifinals
5 days ago
Duration 1:04
Substitute Evelyne Viens scores in the 104th minute and lifts Canada to 1-0 win over Costa Rica in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup
While the Canadians dispatched the Americans 1-0 in the Tokyo Olympic semifinal in August 2021, their career record against the U.S. before Wednesday was 4-53-7.
The U.S. had won the two previous meetings since Tokyo — 1-0 in the CONCACAF W final in July 2022 and 2-0 in the SheBelieves Cup in February 2023 (when the Canadians were at loggerheads with Canada Soccer over lack of progress in labour negotiations).
Canada coach Bev Priestman made two changes to her starting lineup with Simi Awujo and Deanne Rose coming in for Quinn and Huitema. It was a fourth start and 14th cap for the 20-year-old Awujo, who plays collegiately for USC.
The Atlanta-born Awujo, whose mother is Canadian, gave way to Huitema in the 56th minute. Quinn also came off the bench to earn cap No. 100.
The U.S., upset 2-0 by Mexico in the group stage, is a team in transition with Twila Kilgore serving as interim coach. Emma Hayes, currently in charge of England’s Chelsea, is set to take over in June.
Wednesday’s conditions literally put a damper on what has been a successful inaugural women’s Gold Cup, which CONCACAF calls part of a “multimillion-dollar strategic investment” in women’s football in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
CONCACAF provided each participating federation with “six-figure travel and preparation grants” as well as covering air charter costs, accommodation and ground transportation with “further financial distributions and prize money totalling $3.7 million.”
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.
Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.
The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.
DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.
RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.
Takeaways
Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.
Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.
Key moment
The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.
Key stat
Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.
Up next
Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.
Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.
“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.
“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”
The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.
The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.
First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.
Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.
No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.
“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.
Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.
“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.
This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.
The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.
“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”
Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.
Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.
“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”
The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.
Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.
“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”
LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.
“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.
The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.
Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.
“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.
“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”
Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.
Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.
Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.
Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
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