TAMPA, Fla. – Canada qualified for the CONCACAF Women’s Under-15 Championship final by winning penalties against Mexico on Friday.

Montreal’s Liana Tarasco converted the game-winning penalty kick for the Canadians, who won the shootout 6-5 after the game ended 0-0. Canadian goaltender Noelle Henning of Milton, Ont., saved the Mexicans from Elliana Ramirez on the seventh point from the point to set the stage for victory.

Canada will face defending champions USA in Sunday’s final at Hillsborough County Sportsplex. The Americans beat the Dominican Republic 6-0 in the other semifinal on Friday.

Canada lost 1-0 to the United States in their last Group B game on Thursday. Both teams had already qualified for the semi-finals with their first victories against Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

The Canadians improved their record to 3-1-0 with Friday’s victory, outscoring their opponents 9-2. The Americans are 4-0-0 with a 30-0 advantage in goals.

Canada participates in eight League A teams.

League B includes the following 12 CONCACAF-qualified teams: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and -Tobago.

The Canadians won the 2014 edition of the tournament, finished second to the United States in 2016 and lost the semifinals in 2018.

The 2020 contest has been canceled due to the pandemic.

Of the 51 players who have represented Canada in the previous three tournaments, 12 have made the senior team, including Julia Grosso (2014), Jordyn Huitema (2014 and 2016) and Jayde Rivière (2016).

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This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 5, 2022