T&T fell to its second straight defeat at the 2015 Concacaf Under-17 Championship, this time going under to USA 2-0 in Pool A at the Estadio Francisco Morazan, San Pedro Sula, Honduras on Monday night.
Coming off a disappointing 4-1 loss to Guatemala in their opener on Friday at the same venue, the young Soca Warriors were hoping for a better outing against the Americans who crushed Cuba 5-0 in their curtain raiser.
However, from early T&T was put on the defensive with Noah Powder and Tekay Hoyce coming to the team's rescue to keep the score at 0-0 inside the first ten minutes from a set play.
This after Christian Pulisic's corner kick from the left side bounced through traffic, Alejandro Zendejas crossed the ball back in from the right where Haji Wright headed it toward the left side of the frame, only for Powder to clear off the goalline.
USA's Joe Gallardo kept the play alive with a shot at the near left post, but this time Hoyce was there to deflect it out for a corner kick.
The Monterreyn-based forward was fouled on the edge of the box, and he then got up off the turf and curled a right-footed free-kick around a five-man wall and beyond goalkeeper Levi Fernandez into the right side of the net.
Three minutes later, T&T which was without the suspended Shirwin Noel folllowing his red card against Guatemala, nearly equalised.
Kareem Riley delivered a ball into the USA 18-yard-area that goalkeeper Will Pulisic tried to punch away, only for the ball spun back towards the goal, where captain Hugo Arellano was present to clear from the six-yard box.
Two minutes before the interval, Lucas de la Torre could have given the North Americans a two-goal cushion minutes before the break, but his effort from eight-yards out flashed just wise of the left post.
The insurance goal finally came in the 71st minute through the towering figure of Haji Wright.
The outstanding Christian Pulisic, Will's cousin, delivered a pass to the left side for the imposing Wrightd, who went on an unimpeded run towards the net, and with two defenders closing in, he fired a left-footed shot back across Fernandez and into the far corner, for a 2-0 lead.
At the other end of the field, Will Pulisic preserved the clean sheet of USA with two quick-fire saves near the final whistle.
First, he got down to save Kierron Mason's right-footed attempt from distance, and on the follow-up, the 16-year-old kept himself large to deny Powder from seven-yards out at the right post.
In Monday's opener, Donovan Dawkins scored in the early seconds of second-half stoppage time to earn Jamaica (1-0-1, 3 points) a 2-1 win over Guatemala (1-0-1, 3 points) while Cuba and Honduras battled to a 1-1 draw.
The result provided Cuba with its first point of the competition, while host Honduras (1-1-0, 4 points) remains undefeated after two games.
Concacaf Under-17 Championship results
Pool A: Monday–USA 2 (Joe Gallardo 31st, Haji Wright 71st) vs T&T 0
Jamaica 2 (Natahniel Adamolekun 13th, Donovan Dawkins 90th) vs Guatemala 1 (John Mendez 26th)
Cuba 1 (Raycharles Herrera 78th) vs Honduras 1 (Foslyn Grant 50th)
USA: 1-Will Pulisic (GK); 2-Matthew Olosunde, 14-Tanner Dieterich, 5-Hugo Arellano (capt.), 3-John Nelson; 16-Thomas McCabe, 8-Luca de la Torre (13-McKinze Gaines, 64), 10-Christian Pulisic (18-Tyler Adams, 83); 7-Haji Wright, 9-Joe Gallardo (19-Brandon Vazquez, 90+1), 20-Alejandro Zendejas
Subs Not Used: 4-Alexis Velela, 6-Eric Calvillo, 11-Josh Perez, 12-Kevin Silva, 15-Daniel Barbir, 17-Pierre da Silva
Coach: Richie Williams
T&T: 1-Levi Fernandez (GK); 3-Keston Julien, 4-Tekay Hoyce, 6-Kareem Riley, 7-Shakeem Patrick; 8-Joshua Burnett (17-Jeankeon Alexander, 84), 10-Morgan Bruce, 11-Jarren Nixon (9-Chaz Burnett, 60), 12-Kierron Mason; 14-Isaiah Hudson (13-Kishon Hacksaw, 82), 19-Noah Powder (capt.)
Subs Not Used: 2-Isaiah Garcia, 15-Darnell Hospedales, 16-Shobai Celestin, 18-Jean-Paul Rochford, 20-Tyrek James
Coach: Shawn Cooper
Current Group A standings
Teams P W D L F A Pts
USA 2 2 0 0 7 0 6
Honduras 2 1 1 0 3 1 4
Guatemala 2 1 0 1 5 3 3
Jamaica 2 1 0 1 2 3 3
Cuba 2 0 1 1 1 6 1
T&T 2 0 0 2 1 6 0
Remaining Pool A matches
Thursday: Cuba vs Jamaica, 4.30 pm
Guatemala vs USA, 7 pm
Honduras vs T&T, 9.30 pm
March 8: T&T vs Jamaica, 5pm
Cuba vs Guatemala, 7.30 pm
USA vs Honduras, 10 pm
March 10: T&T vs Cuba,
4.30 pm
USA vs Jamaica, 7 pm
Honduras vs Guatemala, 9.30 pm