Canada takes top spot in Group A
Posted January 23, 2012 10:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Canada scored four times in the first half on the way to a 5-1 win over Costa Rica on Monday night, to take first place in Group A at the CONCACAF women’s Olympic qualifying tournament.
Burnaby’s Christine Sinclair opened the scoring in the sixth minute when she knocked down a loose ball and put it up and over the Costa Rican keeper.
The Canadians kept coming with goals from Kaylyn Kyle and Sophie Schmidt before Sinclair buried her second of the game in the 45th minute to give the hosts a 4-0 advantage heading into halftime.
In the second half the Canadian lead got extended on a misplay by their opponents. Costa Rican defender Marianne Ugalde played the ball back to goalkeeper Julieth Arias, but Arias misplayed it and it ended up rolling past her and into the goal. The own goal made it 5-0 for Canada.
The Costa Ricans scored in the 88th minute to end Canadian goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc’s bid for a clean sheet.
The win gave Canada a perfect 3-0-0 record in the group stage. The Canadians will take on the second place team from Group B (either Mexico or the United States) on Friday in a semi-final. The winners of the two semi-final games will both advance to compete in the 2012 Olympics in London, England.
