June 27, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. –The Canadian Under 20 National Soccer Team has advanced to the finals of the CONCAF tournament and will face the United States on Saturday.
Canada is 4-0 at the tournament and features Vanderbilt incoming freshman Chelsea Stewart and has qualified for FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Stewart has started in all four games in the tourney and has scored two goals.
The young Canucks won 2-1 over Mexico on Wednesday in the semifinals to secure the spot in the June 28 final against the United States. It also ensured the nation’s fourth-straight entry to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile that will take place November 19 to December 7.
Canada’s women’s U-20 team has a perfect 5-0-0 record in international competition this year, including four-straight wins at the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship. Two years ago in the CONCACAF final in Mexico, Canada lost 3-2 to the United States. Two years earlier in the 2004 CONCACAF final in Canada, Canada finished first after a 2-1 extra-time victory over the United States. Canada’s Josée Belanger scored the winner in the 118th minute.
Canada’s women’s U-20 team, whose title sponsor is Winners, features players born 1988 or later. Four players in the current lineup – Jonelle Filigno, Lexi Marton, Jodi-Ann Robinson and Sophie Schmidt – were actually in Mexico 11 weeks earlier for the 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament. The quartet helped the full national team earn its first-ever berth to the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.
