VIÑA DEL MAR, Chile (Oct. 22, 2023) – The U.S. Under-19 Women’s Youth National Team opened play in the 2023 Pan American Games with a dominating 6-0 victory over the full National Team of Bolivia.
Forward Ava McDonald opened the scoring in the 5th minute while also tallying in the 23rd and 69th minutes to record her first international hat trick. Forward Amalia Villarreal scored a goal in each half and forward Emeri Adames added a single score. Villarreal and Adames were both members of the U.S. team at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup,
The Pan Am women’s soccer competition features two groups of four teams with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the semifinals. The USA continues Group B play against Costa Rica on Oct. 25 at Estadio Elias Figueroa (1 p.m. local / Noon ET) and then faces Argentina on Oct. 28 (3 p.m. local / 2 p.m. ET). The semifinals will be on Oct. 31 and the bronze and gold medal matches will be contested on Nov. 3.
Bolivia was a late replacement for Venezuela, which withdrew from the competition just a few days before the opening of the tournament and the South Americans were no match for the young Americans who piled up an 18-1 margin in shots.
The first goal came off a long ball from center back Nicki Fraser that flew over the top of the Bolivia defense to Adames who was making a run down the left side. She beat her defender and sent a cross to the far post finish where McDonald finished for the early lead.
The USA doubled its lead in the 20th minute as midfielder Charlotte Kohler won a tackle and toe-poked the ball to Villareal who split the center backs and buried a right-footed finish from just inside the penalty area.
Three minutes later it was 3-0 as midfielder and team captain Claire Hutton won a tackle inside the USA’s defensive half and played the ball to Villarreal who then found Ava McDonald streaking down the right side. McDonald took on the goalkeeper one-one-one and finished calmly from just outside the six-yard box.
The USA would add a fourth before the halftime whistle when defender Giselle Thompson picked up a loose ball at midfield and took on three Bolivian defenders before finding Adames, who herself beat two defenders in a foot race and smashed a left-footed shot that pinged off the post and into the net.
The USA finished off the game with goals in the 59th and 69th minutes, the first coming when Villarreal jumped on a slow back pass and cracked a first-time right-footed shot over the goalkeeper who was caught out of position.
The final score came when Kohler won a 50/50 ball in midfield and found forward Katie Shea Collins checking in front of the backline. Collins was able to turn and find McDonald making a run behind the back line for her to finish with the outside of her right foot to complete the hat trick.
The other group B match between Costa Rica and Argentina ended 0-0 meaning the USA is comfortably atop the group heading into the second match day. Group A features host Chile, Jamaica, Mexico and Paraguay.
Source : US Soccer
