USA keeps up goalfest at Concacaf U-20 Men's Championship

• by Mike Woitalla  @MikeWoitalla, Nov 6, 2018

Against what should be its toughest first-round opponent, the USA led 2-0 after eight minutes and beat Trinidad & Tobago, 6-1, in its third of five Group A games. The win on Monday marked Coach Tab Ramos' team's third straight rout, after opening with a 7-1 win over Puerto Rico and a 13-0 shellacking of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

With two Group A games left -- Wednesday against Saint Vincent & the Grenadines and Friday vs. Suriname -- the USA should cruise into the classification stage, which will consist of two three-team groups, comprised of the six first-round group winners. The two classification stage group winners plus the second-place finishers will qualify for the 2019 U-20 World Cup in Poland (May 25-June 16).

The Soca Warriors had opened with wins over Saint Vincent & the Grenadines (3-2) and Puerto Rico (5-1) but were never in the game against the USA. Brandon Servania opened the scoring with a 25-yard shot after Ulysses Llanez and Justin Rennicks combined on the setup. Two minutes later, Rennicks' shot deflected off Justin Homer for a 2-0 lead. The USA would outshoot T&T, 8-0, in the first half and get its third in 45th minute from Paxton Pomykal's crisp 12-yard shot set up by Rennicks.

Pomykal helped set up the next two goals -- with a pass to Alex Mendez in the 52nd minute and a fierce shot that rebounded to Llanez, who calmly pinged an 18-yard shot off the inside of the post into the net.

Menez set up Juan Pablo Torres for the final goal in stoppage time.

The only blemish on the U.S. performance came when T&T took advantage of some sloppy defending in the 54th minute that allowed Isaiah Lee's tap-in.

• Llanez, Mendez and Pomykal have scored in each of the USA's three games.

• The USA outshot T&T, 19-7.

Nov. 5 in Bradenton, Fla.
USA 6 Trinidad & Tobago 1. Goals: Servania 6, own goal (Homer) 8, Pomykal 45, Mendez 52, Llanez 56, Torres 93+; Lee 54.
USA -- Scott; Araujo, McKenzie, Real, Gloster; Pomykal, Servania, Mendez, Akinola (Amaya, 82), Rennicks (Dorsey, 70), Llanez (Torres, 63).
T&T -- Smith; Homer (Rochford, 27), Mieres, Singh, Beal (Lee, 46); Joseph, Jerrin, Francis, Orr (Ramdeen, 87); Prowell; Garcia.
Yellow cards -- T&T: Orr 37, Jerrin 47+, Garcia 55.
Referee: Juan Calderon (Costa Rica).
Att.: 1,100.

USA SCORERS
(After three Concacaf U-20 Championship games)
5 Ulysses Llanez
3 Ayo Akinola, Alex Mendez, Paxton Pomykal, Justin Rennicks.
2 Mark McKenzie, own goals.
1 Griffin Dorsey, Anthony Fontana, Manny Perez, Brandon Servania, Juan Pablo Torres.

U.S. U-20 men's national team roster
GOALKEEPERS (2)
Brady Scott (FC Cologne II/GER; Petaluma, Calif.)
David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake academy; Oxnard, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (7)
Jaylin Lindsey (Sporting KC; Charlotte, N.C.)
Chris Gloster (Hannover 96/GER; South Orange, N.J.)
Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia Union; Bear, Del.)
Matthew Real (Philadelphia Union; Drexel Hill, Pa.)
Manny Perez (N.C. State; Garner, N.C.)
Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy academy; Lompac, Calif.)
Sam Rogers (Sounders FC 2; Seattle, Wash.)
MIDFIELDERS (6)
Brandon Servania (FC Dallas; Birmingham, Ala.)
Juan Pablo Torres (Lokeren/BEL; Lilburn, Ga.)
Alex Mendez (SC Freiburg/GER; Los Angeles, Calif.)
Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas; Highland Village, Texas.)
Anthony Fontana (Philadelphia Union; Newark, Del.)
Isaac Angking (New England Revolution; Providence, R.I.)
FORWARDS (5)
Justin Rennicks (Indiana Univ.; Hamilton, Mass.)
*Ulysses Llanez (Unattached; Lynwood, Calif.)
Griffin Dorsey (Indiana Univ.; Evergreen, Colo.)
Ayo Akinola (Toronto FC; Detroit, Mich.)
Frankie Amaya (UCLA; Santa Ana, Calif.)