Jan. 28, 2010
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala-- A pair of Nittany Lions took part in the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Semifinals, but only one advanced to the Championship game. The United States squad, captained by Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) will face Mexico, winners over Lexi Marton (Aurora, Ontario) and Canada on Thursday afternoon at Estadio Cementos Progreso.
Nairn, captaining the U.S. side for the second time in the tournament, helped to keep the pace of play for the Americans, who dominated possession throughout its semifinal match with Costa Rica. After a scoreless first half, the Americans ran out to a 2-0 lead through 70 minutes before Costa Rica pulled one back with 12 minutes to play.
From there, the U.S. played tight and effective soccer to hold the score and advance to its fourth-straight U-20 CONCACAF Championship game as well as its fourth-straight FIFA U-20 World Cup. In 2008, the U.S. fell in the CONCACAF final to Canada, but won the World Cup in Chile. That team featured Nairn and three-time NSCAA All-American Alyssa Naeher (Seymour, Conn.), who is with the full U.S. National Team in camp training for the Algarve Cup in Portugal.
In semifinal number two, the Canadians and Mexicans played to a scoreless tie through 90 minutes, sending the game into extra time. Mexico converted its chance at the end of the first extra frame for a 1-0 lead it would never relinquish, giving the Mexicans their first finals appearance and a spot in the FIFA World Cup as well.
Marton and the Canadians will play in the consolation game against Costa Rica on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The winner of that match will earn the third and final berth to the World Cup. It's the first time in four tries that the Canadians haven't advanced to the finals of the CONCACAF Championship.
The United States and Mexico will face off at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Streaming of the event will be live on CONCACAFtv.com free of charge. The game will also be telecast in tape delay by Fox Soccer Channel in addition to a post-game match report on both Marton's and Nairn's matches on GoPSUsports.com/sports/w-soccer.
As always, fans can keep track of the Lions on Facebook (Search: Penn State Women's Soccer) and on Twitter (@PSUWomensSoccer).
--NITTANY LIONS--