TT advance to women’s Under-20 quarter-finals

TT advanced to the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship quarter-final stage after defeating Puerto 5-4 via penalty kicks at the Estadio Panamericano in San Cristobal on Sunday.

Captain Afiyah Cornwall sent TT ahead early on after latching on to a well-placed cross from Aaliyah Prince, squeezing past two defenders and firing home past custodian Cristina Roque in the third minute.

Puerto Rican forward, Malina Pardo levelled the score 15 minutes later as she and Cristina Torres teamed up for a well-worked strike past TT goalie, Klil Keshwar (1-1).

In the 24th minute, Puerto Rico took control of the game when captain Idelys Vasquez slotted home an easy shot to send them 1-2 ahead.

Two minutes before the half-time break, TT levelled up courtesy another well-timed hit from Cornwall (2-2).

Several golden chances were then thrown away by both teams in the second period which forced the players to contest an additional 30 minutes extra-time (two 15-minute halves).

Visibly drained, they pressed on in search of the coveted quarter-final spot.

However, TT were duly rewarded for their efforts in the second half of extra time as Maria-Frances Serrant found the back of the Puerto Rican net to boost the team’s confidence.

Torres had other plans though, as she headed past Keshwar with just eight minutes remaining to tie things up at 3-3 and decide their fate via shots from the penalty spot.

After nine goals were scored from penalty kicks, Morales queued up for the final and most decisive shot of the game.

Keshwar though, had enough, and correctly dove to the right to deny Morales and secure TT’s quarter-final meeting against behemoths, Mexico, on Wednesday.