The Lady Jaguars suffered their first loss in the CONCACAF Women’s U20 Championship, losing to defending champion Mexico 3-0 yesterday at the Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Second half goals in the space of 15 minutes relegated Guyana to their first loss in the six matches. Following a scoreless first half period, Joseline Montoya opened the scoring in the 78th minute. The conversion emanated from a flat left sided cross from Destinee Manzo which fell into the path of the onrushing Montoya, who slotted home from the centre of the box into the lower right corner.
The second conversion occurred in the 87th minute as Montoya recorded her second from the penalty mark following a trip inside the box. Montoya made no mistake from the distance, as she passed her right foot effort into the lower left corner.
A goalkeeping blunder would lead to the third conversion in the 90th+3 minute as substitute Mariel Roman uncorked a strike from the top of the box which inexplicably rolled under the body of the diving goalkeeper Raven Edwards-Dowdall.
With the loss, Guyana finished second in the group on six points. They will now battle Cayman Islands on Sunday in the round of 16 section at the same venue from 19:00hrs. Mexico, the group winner with a perfect nine points, will tackle Grenada on the same date. For the first time in the tournament, Guyana’s starting XI featured a locally based player in Shamya Daniels. The other players were Edwards-Dowdall, Jenea Knight, Anaya Johnson, Brianna Desa, Jessica Myers, Hailey David, Tori De Nobrega, Jade Vuyfhuis, Samantha Banfield and Nailah Rowe.
Tiandi Smith, another locally based player, replaced Daniels to start the second half. Horicia Adams, the remaining locally based member, got her first minutes of the event following her introduction in the 60th minute. Mexico opted to make eight changes to their starting XI from the previous encounter with Nicaragua.
The contest was a thoroughly one-sided affair and clearly highlighted the gap between the two nations. According to statistics provided by Data Factory, for the first half, Guyana failed to record a single shot. They also only completed 45 passes after attempting 59 at a completion rate of 76%.
On the other hand, three time finalist Mexico recorded 12 shots in the first period, eight of which were on target. They also completed a mammoth 250 passes after attempting 282 at a conversion rate of 89%. This translated to 76% of possession.
In the analysis of the entire contest, the Lady Jaguars did not create a goal scoring opportunity or tally an attempt, a first for the entire competition. They also completed 77 from 102 attempted passes at a completion rate of 75%. This resulted in an overall possession stat of 26%.
Conversely, Mexico, who entered the match outshooting opponents 47-3, registered a total of 28 shots, 17 of which were on target. ‘El Tri Feminil’ also completed 423 passes after attempting 478 at a conversion rate of 88%. This translated into a possession stat of 74%. Six corners were also recorded by the holders.
Meanwhile, Puerto Rico defeated Nicaragua 1-0 in the earlier match of the group. According to CONCACAF, the top three teams from each of the four groups will progress to the knockout round alongside the four qualifiers from the previous section. The eventual finalists will qualify for the 2020 FIFA World Cup.
