The Lady Jaguars maintained their grip atop the group ‘A’ standings in the 2024 Road to Concacaf Gold Cup Qualifiers, dismantling lowly Dominica by a 9-0 score-line yesterday at the IR Franklin Essed Stadium, Suriname.
Guyana’s starting XI comprised Chante Sandiford, Anya Tribune, Rylee Traicoff, Kristen Bettencourt, Anika Sproxton, Jalade Trim, Brianne Desa, Stefani Kouzas, Otesha Charles, Annalisa Vincent, and Shanice Alfred.
The contest was essentially over at the halftime interval, as the Guyanese stormed to an unassailable 5-0 lead at the halftime interval. It was a dominant performance from the Lady Jags, as they recorded 19 attempts to Dominica’s two shots. They also accumulated 10 corner kicks, which was seven more than their opponent.
Otesha Charles commenced the rout in the fourth minute, which set the tone of the contest, cutting in from the left side before rifling a powerful left foot strike into the roof of the right corner from outside the penalty area.
This was followed by an Alfred conversion in the 19th minute, slotting home her first strike into the right corner after latching onto a flicked header following a cross from the right side.
Desa then got into the scoring act as she found the back of the net in the 28th minute, converting from the penalty mark into the top right corner.
The 34th minute witnessed a Kouzas strike as the score raced to 4-0, with Kouzas curling a right-footed shot into the roof of the right corner from outside the centre of the penalty box.
The perfect first half was then completed by Vincent, who etched her name on the scorer’s sheet in the 38th minute, unleashing a right-footed shot from inside the right of the penalty box, which struck the crossbar and settled into the back of the net.
The second stanza practically mirrored the first, with the only exception being the recording of four goals. Tribune once again opened the proverbial floodgates in the 61st minute, slotting unchallenged inside the right of the six-yard area after latching onto a lobbed header following a cross from a freekick.
Charles then stole the show, as he recorded two goals in the space of five minutes to seal her hat-trick. The wily forward sealed her brace in the 74th minute, racing onto a through pass inside the right of the 18-yard area before rifling a first-time shot into the roof of the net.
She completed her haul in the 79th minute, slamming the ball into the lower left corner past the advancing goalkeeper and trailing defender just inside the right of the penalty area. The result was then sealed in the 88th minute, as Vincent recorded her brace, unleashing a diving header from inside the left of the 18-yard area after latching onto a cross from the right-sided corner-kick.
With the win, which was the fourth consecutive for the Lady Jaguars, Guyana climbs onto 12 points and remains atop the standings heading into their final group match on Saturday against Antigua and Barbuda at the same venue. Meanwhile, Suriname defeated Antigua and Barbuda 1-0 in the other match of the pool.
The event serves as the qualifier for the inaugural Road to the Gold Cup. After home and away group stage matches within each league, the respective winner of each League A section (three teams) will qualify for the 2024 W Gold Cup Group Stage.
The second-place finishers in each of the League A groups (three teams) and the winner of each League B pool (three teams) will progress to the preliminary stage of the 2024 W Gold Cup (six teams in total). The inaugural W Gold Cup will occur from February 17th to March 10th, 2024, in the United States.
