SAN DIEGO — Jaedyn Shaw and her teammates on the United States Women’s National Team figured to enjoy a home-field advantage on Wednesday night in their CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer semifinal against Canada at Snapdragon Stadium.
A home-field edge indeed showed up in the 20th minute.
Only it wasn’t what anyone had in mind when the event was booked for the San Diego venue several months ago.
When the soccer ball stalled on the rain-soaked, bog-like field to foil Canada’s backward pass into the box, Shaw pounced on it and chipped a 10-yard strike past goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan – her San Diego Wave teammate – for the lead before a crowd of 15,245.
The United States appeared headed to a semifinal victory until the 82nd minute, when Canada’s Jordyn Huitema tied it. The U.S. and Canada traded extra-time goals, with Sophia Smith giving the Americans a 2-1 lead nine minutes in before Adriana Leon reknotted the score with a free pick in the final minute of stoppage time.
The match came down to a penalty shootout. Smith, Alyssa Naeher (a goalkeeper) and Lindsey Horan all connected on their shots for the United States. Naeher then stopped Jessie Fleming’s shot to end it.
The soggy Americans move on to Sunday’s 5:15 p.m. final, also at Snapdragon Stadium, where they’ll face Brazil. Brazil beat Mexico, 3-0 in Wednesday’s first semifinal.
Calling into question whether the game should have been played, the rain created conditions unfit for soccer by leaving puddles on the field.
Well-struck passes came to a rapid halt or skipped ahead, depending on how much water the ball encountered.
The randomness of where the ball might end up forced the players to slam on the brakes or speed up at a high rate. It looked treacherous and prompted a pointed comment from Casey Stoney, the Wave’s coach and former captain of England’s national team.
“Player safety?????” Stoney posted to social media.
“It is solely at the discretion of the referees as to…
Read the full article here