March 3, 2012
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By Miquel Jacobs
Assistant Media Relations Director
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina freshman Sabrina D’Angelo (Welland, Ontario) posted her second consecutive clean sheet of the tournament for the Canada U-20 Women’s National Team as Canada defeated Jamaica, 2-0, at the 2012 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship held at the Estadio Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez in Panama City, Panama.
The win secures a spot for Canada in the semifinal round of the competition with only one match remaining in the group stage. Canada and Mexico both are 2-0-0 (6 pts) heading into Monday night’s clash between the two North American countries. Despite Canada’s position as the only team in Group A to have not conceded a goal yet in the competition, Mexico is the current group leader due to a +12 goal differential compared to Canada’s +7.
The shutout was the fourth straight clean sheet for D’Angelo while representing Canada in international competition. In D’Angelo’s two caps prior to the tournament, both coming with the Under-17 team, she posted shutouts against USA and Mexico to lead Canada to the 2010 CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship title.
In Saturday’s action, D’Angelo was tested against the Jamaican’s and was called upon for big saves in both halves for Canada. A ball from the Jamaican midfield in the 19th minute found its way over the heads of the Canadian backline before a charging D’Angelo corralled the ball in mid-air while colliding with the attacker near the top of the ’18. Two looks in the 68th and 71st tested the Gamecock goalkeeper, but D’Angelo was able to make the saves to keep the game scoreless.
Just five minutes later, Canada got on the board with the game-winning goal in the 76th, and the final tally was added six minutes after in the 82nd for the win. The win keeps the Maple Leafs perfect in group play since the biennial Under-20 Championship was established in 2004. Canada moves to 14-0-0 all-time in group play with a scoring margin of 52 goals for and five goals against.
Canada concludes group play Monday (March 5) against Mexico to determine which team will win the group. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (ET) and will be webcast live on CONCACAF TV.
About D’Angelo & CONCACAF U-20 Championship
The eight-team CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship will qualify three teams to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup – the two semifinal winners and the third-place match winner. D’Angelo has previously competed for Canada at the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship where she was the starting goalkeeper for the side that won the gold medal with a 1-0 shutout win against Mexico in the final in addition to a shutout win over Team USA in the semifinal. This tournament marks D’Angelo’s first call-up to the U-20 squad, the last level on the Canadian women’s pyramid before reaching the full national team.
