Nadege L'Esperance and Team Canada Will Play For the Bronze Medal on Sunday
January 26, 2018 | Women's Soccer
Canada falls 4-3 in penalty kicks to Mexico in the semifinal of the CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisville sophomore Nadege L'Esperance and Team Canada fell 4-3 in penalty kicks against Mexico on Friday in the semifinal of the CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship — delaying a potential berth in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
The top three finishers at the tournament advance to the world championship in August, so the Canadian squad will have one more shot via the bronze-medal game against Haiti.
Both sides finished in a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes of play.Â
Canada's Gabrielle Carle scored in the 80th minute to draw even after Jimena Lopez Fuentes put Mexico ahead in the 34th.
The United States beat Haiti in penalty kicks in the other semifinal for its spot in the gold-medal match against the Mexicans. The championship game and bronze-medal match are Sunday.
Canada and the U.S. won its respective preliminary-round groups with 3-0-0 records. The Canadian women beat Costa Rica 3-1, Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 and Haiti 4-0.
Host France, China, England, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Korea and Spain have already qualified for the 16-country U20 World Cup.
