Three different players were on target as Haiti blanked Cuba 3-0 to maintain its 100 per cent winning record in Group G of the Caribbean Football Union Second Round Women's Gold Cup/Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) qualifiers at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella on Thursday night. After a 0-0 first 45 minutes in the clash of first day winners, Fiorda Charles opened the scoring for the Haitians in the 55th minute before Kimberly Alexis Boulos (75th) and Samantha Brandx (86th) added one each to secure a second straight win, after their 4-1 whipping of Antigua and Barbuda. With the win, Haiti moved to maximum six points and need only a draw in its final match against Puerto Rico today from 4 pm at the same venue to top the group.
The Puerto Ricans, rebounded from their narrow 4-3 loss to Cuba on Tuesday with an 8-0 bashing of Antigua and Barbuda led by two goals each from Angiemar Felix and Esmeralda Negron. Needing a win to stay in the hunt for top spot in the group, Puerto Rico got off to a perfect start when Felix netted the opener after only four minutes and she added another in the 16th minute for a 2-0 lead. Negro extended the lead to 3-0 two minutes later before Denisse Soltero (35th) and Carmen Reys (39th) made it 5-0 at the half-time interval. In the second-half, the Puerto Ricans continued to dominate and added three more goals through Negron (72nd), Marthaliz Taboas (84th) and substitute Jacquelyne Guerra in the 90th minute to hand Antigua & Barbuda another drubbing. Today, Antigua and Barbuda will meet Cuba in its final match from 6 pm, with the Spanish-speaking players needing a win.
Last night, Group F concluded at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya with host T&T and Guyana facing off for top spot with six points each. The Guyanese have a better goal-difference of plus-11 to T&T's plus-ten and need only a draw to secure top spot. In the first match, Barbados and St Lucia face off. At the end of the two round-robin groups in T&T, the top two teams in each group will qualify for a Third Round, four-team series from which the top three will qualify for the Concacaf Women's Gold Cup to be played in October. In addition, the Second Round group winners and the best second place team from the two groups in T&T will also qualify for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games carded for Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, July 17 to August 1. Puerto Rico qualified as host. Already qualifying for the Gold Cup are Canada, Mexico, USA, Costa Rica and Guatemala. The quartet of Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador have also qualified for the CAC Games.
Thursday Group G Results
Venue: Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella:
Haiti 3 (Fiorda Charles 55th, Kimberly Alexis Boulos 75th, Samantha Brandx 86th) vs Cuba 0.
Puerto Rico 8 (Angiemar Felix 4th, 16th, Esmeralda Negron 18th, 72nd, Denisse Soltero 35th, Carmen Reyes 39th, Marthaliz Taboas 84th, Jacquelyne Guerra 90th) vs Antigua & Barbuda 0.
Remaining matches Saturday: Group G
Haiti vs Puerto Rico, 4pm.
Cuba vs Antigua & Barbuda, 6pm.
