U.S. girls overcome harsh conditions to return to U-17 Women's World Cup

By Mike Woitalla

The USA, which two years ago failed to qualify for the U-17 Women’s World Cup, stormed through this year’s qualifying tournament with five wins, including a 5-0win over Canada in the semifinal to clinch the berth and a 2-1 victory over Mexico in final of the U-17 Concacaf Championship in Grenada.

“It’s been an emotional two weeks and it’s been ahard-fought two weeks,” said U.S. coach B.J. Snow. “The girls are ecstatic, and I’m proud of them for pushing through some adversity today. Five games in nine days in this heatagainst this type of competition is tough, and every game we had was very difficult. The girls learned from it and pushed themselves through some things they’ve never had to deal with before. It was atotal team effort.”

Temperatures in Grenada reached the high 80s, forcing the refs to provide mid-game water breaks. The final win was the USA’s second over Mexico. The USA’s AshleySanchez scored in the USA’s 1-0 win over Mexico in group play and opened the scoring in the final in the 43rd minute. Civana Kuhlmann scored the gamewinner in the 86th minuteafter Mexico’s 69th-minute equalizer by Jacqueline Ovalle. The USA’s other group stage wins came over Jamaica (8-1) and Costa Rica (2-0).

USA-Mexico Highlights:

Alexa Spaanstra, Jordan Canniff, Kuhlman,  Sophia Smith and Frankie Tagliaferri scored the U.S. goals in its semifinal victory over Canada.

USA-Canada Highlights:

Sanchezwon the MVP Golden Ball and was one of seven U.S. players named to the tournament’s Best XI. U.S. goalkeeper Laurel Ivory was the Golden Glove winner.

2016 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship Best XI
Goalkeeper: Laurel Ivory (USA).
Defenders: Kennedy Wesley (USA), Naomi Girma (USA),Kimberly Rodriguez (Mexico), Julia Grosso (Canada).
Midfielders: Nerilia Mondesir (Haiti), Brianna Pinto (USA), Jaelin Howell (USA), Jacqueline Ovalle (Mexico).
Forwards: Ashley Sanchez (USA), Civana Kuhlmann (USA).

2016Concacaf U-17 Women’s Championship: Results & Awards

The USA, which finished runner-up at the inaugural U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2008, failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2010 and2014, losing to Canada and Mexico, respectively, in semifinal shootout tiebreakers. The USA exited in the first round of the 2012 World Cup, albeit without losing a game.

Photo courtesy U.S. Soccer.

Concacaf U-17 Championship, Final
March 13 in St. George’s,Grenada
USA 2 Mexico 1. Goals: Sanchez 43, Kuhlmann (Smith) 86. Ovalle (Hernandez) 69.
USA — Ivory; Wesley (I.Rodriguez, 46), K.Rodriguez, Girma,Wiesner (Smith, 79); Pinto, Howell, Canniff (Tagliaferri, 65), Sanchez, Spaanstra; Kuhlmann.
Mexico — Aguirre; Soto, Ramirez, Rodriguez, Reyes (Avalos, 90+2), Reyes (Delgado,56), Delgado, Cazares (Juarez, 66); Espinosa, Hernandez, Ovalle.
Referee: Marie-Soleil Beaudoin (Canada)
Att.: 2,500

Concacaf U-17 Championship, Semifinal
March 11 in St. George’s, Grenada
USA 5 Canada 0. Goals: Spaanstra (Wesley) 33, Canniff (Kuhlmann) 45+1, Kuhlmann (Wesley) 54, Smith 90+1, Tagliaferri (Spaanstra) 90+3.
USA — Ivory; Wesley,K.Rodriguez, Girma, Wiesner; Pinto, Howell, Canniff (I. Rodriguez, 73), Sanchez (Tagliaferri, 77), Spaanstra; Kuhlmann (Smith, 84).
Canada — Proulx; Regan, Grosso, Chang,Cathro; Stratigakis, Ibrahim (Kats, 75), Shaw (Baalbaki, 46), Flynn, Huitema, Riviere (Gomez, 46).
Referee: Tatiana Montes (Panama).
Att.: 1,000

U.S. Scorers U-17 World Cup Qualifying
5 Ashley Sanchez (So Cal Blues)
5 Frankie Tagliaferri(PDA)
4 Civana Kuhlmann (Colorado Rush)
2 Alexa Spaanstra (Michigan Hawks)
1 Sophia Smith (Real Colorado).
1Jordan Canniff (Richmond United).

Roster: U.S. U-19 women convenein Davis

The U.S. U-19 women’s national team, coached by U.S. Soccer Development Coach Jitka Klimkova, is holding its second training camp of the year,March 12-19 in Davis, Calif.

Players in this age group are eligible for the Michelle French-coached team headed to the 2016 U-20 Women’s World Cup in November in Papua NewGuinea.

Sixteen players in the 26-player roster are collegians while 10 are still in youth ball. Most of the players in camp were born in 1997 with two in 1996, the age cutoff year for thenext U-20 Women’s World Cup.

U.S. U-19 women’s national team
GOALKEEPERS (3): Devon Kerr (Ohio State; Columbus, Ohio),Samantha Leshnak (North Carolina; Liberty Township, Ohio), Lauren Rood (Crossfire Reynolds; Camas, Wash.)
DEFENDERS (8): Stefanie Doyle (Dallas Sting; Lewisville, Texas), ShannonHorgan (Clemson; Long Beach, N.Y.), Michaela Kovacs (Michigan State; Hudsonville, Mich.), Hailie Mace (UCLA; Ventura, Calif.), Meghan McCool (Penn Fusion; Glenside, Pa.), Jacey Pederson (PSV Union;Palo Alto, Calif.), Ally Prisock (USC; Fontana, Calif.), Alex Thomas (LSU; New Orleans, La.).
MIDFIELDERS (8): Breanna Dewaal (Utah Celtic FC; Sandy, Utah), Mallory Eubanks(Mississippi State; Lexington, Ky.), Kayla Hill (TCU; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Ann Marie Jaworski (Shattuck St. Mary’s; Grinnell, Iowa), Cecelia Kizer (Mississippi; Overland Park, Kansas), MayraPelayo (Florida; West Palm Beach, Fla.), Briana Solis (Florida; Orlando, Fla.), Ella Stevens (GSA; Grayson, Ga.).
FORWARDS (7): Lizzy Braby (Utah Celtic FC; Murray, Utah),Marissa Everett (Oregon; Canyon Lake, Calif), Cyera Hintzen (Dallas Sting; Plano, Texas), Katie Pingel (Santa Clara; Torrance, Calif.), Zoe Redei (Eclipse Soccer Club; Highland Park, Ill.), KaycieTillman (Florida State; Rowlett, Texas), Emma Welch (Alabama; McDonough, Ga.).