USA Claims 2018 Concacaf Women's Championship Title with 2-0 Defeat of Regional Rival Canada

FRISCO, Texas. (Oct. 17, 2018) – The U.S. Women’s National Team finished a perfect 5-0-0 run and defeated Canada 2-0 in the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship title game on Wednesday night. It was the sixth regional title for the USA, which outscored opponents 26-0 in the tournament.

Like in its previous four games, the USA found the opening goal inside the first 10 minutes of the match when Rose Lavelle scored from the top of the box in the second minute of play to put the USA ahead. The rest of the half went scoreless but as it tends to be when these teams meet, it was a physical matchup that saw Canada’s Rebecca Quinn and Allysha Chapman earn yellow cards in the 26th and 31st minutes, and Tobin Heath pick up a caution in the 33rd. The teams also combined for 16 fouls in the first half.

The USA outshot Canada 7-3 in the first 45, with Canada only managing to get one of its own on target, which Alyssa Naeher did well to push wide.

In the second half, the USA did not allow Canada to get a shot on goal, and outshot its northern neighbor 5-1, for a final 12-4 shot advantage. The U.S. continued to push throughout the period and in the 89th minute got its second goal when Morgan finished a Lindsey Horan cross with her left foot for her tournament-leading seventh goal.

The USA earned three individual awards, with Morgan winning Golden Boot as the top scorer of the tournament, Julie Ertz – who was on the 2014 Concacaf Women’s Championship roster but did not play – winning the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament, and the team won the Fair Play Award. Additionally,  Kelley O’Hara, Abby Dahlkemper, Crystal Dunn, Ertz, Horan, Tobin Heath, Megan Rapinoe and Morgan earned Concacaf Best XI honors for their play throughout the tournament.

Earlier in the day, in the Third-Place Match, Jamaica defeated Panama 4-2 in a penalty shootout, after the teams tied 2-2 through regulation and extra-time, to earn an automatic berth to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Jamaica becomes the first Caribbean nation in history to advance to a Women’s World Cup. Panama will now go into a two-leg intercontinental playoff and face Argentina for a chance to secure a spot in France.

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Goal Scoring Rundown:
USA – Rose Lavelle, 2nd minute: Lindsey Horan made a powerful run into the left side of the penalty area and crossed into the middle. Shelina Zadorsky cleared the ball, but only to the top of the box where Lavelle collected and then fired a left-footed grass-cutter that skipped into the lower right corner from 20 yards out. With the goal, the USA continued its streak of scoring inside the first 10 minutes of all five games in this tournament. USA 1, CAN 0. WATCH GOAL.

USA – Alex Morgan (Lindsey Horan), 89th minute: Crystal Dunn recovered a poor clearance at the top of the box and passed it to Horan, who was inside the 18-yard box on the left side. Horan looked up and saw Morgan in the middle. She crossed the ball into the six-yard box where an incoming Morgan finished with her left foot through traffic and over Stephanie Labbé for her seventh goal of the tournament. USA 2, CAN 0. WATCH GOAL. FINAL.

Additional Player Notes:

• Rose Lavelle scored her sixth international goal tonight in her 18th career cap. It was her third goal of the tournament.
• Alex Morgan scored her 97th international goal. She scored seven goals throughout the tournament to up her 2018 total to 17. She’s scored 24 goals over her last 24 WNT matches. It was her 151st cap. At age 29, she sits in sole possession of seventh place on the USA's all-time goal scoring list and is third all-time in two-goal games (22), behind only Abby Wambach (37) and Mia Hamm (28). With her hat trick against Japan on July 26, the fourth of her career, Morgan is now tied with Michelle Akers for third all-time in multi-goal games (26) behind Abby Wambach (45) and Mia Hamm (38).
• Lindsey Horan, the 2018 NWSL MVP, has played in every game for the USA this year. She earned her eighth assist of 2018, second most on the team, and led the team in assists during the tournament with five.
• Alyssa Naeher earned her 20th career shutout tonight in her 37th cap.

Additional Team Notes:

• The USA is 16-0-2 in 2018, with wins against Denmark, Germany, England, Mexico (thrice), China PR (twice), Japan, Brazil, Chile (twice), Panama, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and Canada; and ties against Australia and France.
• The USA is unbeaten in its last 26 matches (23-0-3), and has outscored its opponents 91-17 through that stretch, scoring in all 26 games.
• The USA is now 32-1-0 all-time in World Cup qualifying, including 18-0-0 at home, and hasn’t conceded a goal in 11 straight WCQ games (1053 minutes) dating back to 2010. The last goal allowed came in the 27th minute against Mexico on Nov. 5, 2010.
• Under Jill Ellis in World Cup qualifying the USA has a record of 10-0-0 with 47 goals scored and 0 against.
• The WNT hasn’t conceded a goal in 704 minutes in 2018, with the last one coming against Brazil during the Tournament of Nations on Aug. 2.
• The U.S. women have won six of seven WCQ tournaments, finishing first in the qualifying competitions for the 1991, 1995, 2003, 2007, 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cups.
• The USA has scored 184 goals in WWC qualifying while allowing five.
• Six of the USA’s 26 goals in this tournament came via headers.
• Ten different players scored in the tournament for the USA (26 total goals): Alex Morgan (7), Tobin Heath (4), Carli Lloyd (3), Megan Rapinoe (3), Rose Lavelle (3), Julie Ertz (2), Crystal Dunn, Lindsey Horan, Christen Press and Samantha Mewis.
• U.S. WNT head coach Jill Ellis made three subs tonight: Carli Lloyd for Rose Lavelle in the 88th minute, Mallory Pugh for Tobin Heath in the 92nd minute and Casey Short for Crystal Dunn in the 23rd.

– U.S. Women’s National Team Match Report –

Match: U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Canada
Date: October 17, 2018
Competition: 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship – Final
Venue: Toyota Stadium; Frisco, Texas
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. local)
Attendance: 6,986
Weather: 52 degrees, rain

Scoring Summary:           1             2             F
USA                                      1             1             2
CAN                                     0             0             0

USA – Rose Lavelle                                        2nd minute
USA – Alex Morgan (Lindsey Horan)         89              

Lineups:
USA: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 5-Kelley O’Hara, 7-Abby Dahlkemper, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 19-Crystal Dunn (14-Casey Short, 90+3); 8-Julie Ertz, 16-Rose Lavelle (10-Carli Lloyd, 88), 9-Lindsey Horan; 17-Tobin Heath (11-Mallory Pugh, 90+2), 13-Alex Morgan (capt.), 15-Megan Rapinoe
Substitutes not used: 18-Ashlyn Harris, 2-Emily Sonnett, 3-Samantha Mewis, 6-Morgan Brian, 12-Hailie Mace, 20-Christen Press
Head Coach: Jill Ellis 

CAN: 1-Stephanie Labbé, 2-Allysha Chapman (8-Diana Matheson, 76), 3-Kadeisha Buchanan, 4-Shelina Zadorsky, 5-Rebecca Quinn, 10-Ashley Lawrence; 13-Sophie Schmidt, 17-Jessie Fleming, 15-Nichelle Prince (19-Adriana Leon, 46), 16-Janine Beckie (9-Jordyn Huitema, 88), 12-Christine Sinclair (capt.)
Substitutes not used: 18-Kailen Sheridan; 20-Lindsay Agnew, 11-Emma Regan, 14-Gabby Carle, 7-Julia Grosso, 6-Deanne Rose,
Head Coach: Kenneth Heiner-Møller

Stats Summary: USA / CAN
Shots: 12 / 4
Shots on Goal: 5 / 1
Saves: 1 / 3
Corner Kicks: 3 / 3
Fouls: 14 / 16
Offside: 7 / 1

Misconduct Summary:
CAN – Rebecca Quinn (caution)                 27^th minute
CAN – Allysha Chapman (caution)             31
USA – Tobin Heath (caution)                       33
CAN – Kadeisha Buchanan (caution)         52
CAN – Jessie Fleming (caution)                   69

Officials:
Referee: Lucila Vengas (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Princess Brown (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Mijensa Rensch (SUR)
4th Official: Tatiana Guzman (NCA)

Budweiser Woman of the Match: Alex Morgan