U17 WNT beats Costa Rica, wins group

<p class="p1">[player_tooltip player_id="26447" first="Amalia" last="Villarreal"] cannot be stopped.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p1">The Michigan-native opened the scoring on Wednesday in the 5-0 win over Costa Rica at the 2022 Concacaf U17 Championship. Villarreal scored her seventh goal of the tournament in the opening minutes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">USA U17 WNT leads Costa Rica 2-0 at half. [player_tooltip player_id="26447" first="Amalia" last="Villarreal"] with a goal, her seventh of the tournament, and an assist. <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/USWNT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USWNT</a> <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/USYNT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USYNT</a> <a href="https://t.co/MOuW2JeU7a">pic.x.com/MOuW2JeU7a</a></p> — J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) <a href="https://x.com/JREskilson/status/1519418255416328192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <p class="p1">She added an assist in stoppage time of the first half as her clever lifted through-ball found the perfectly-timed run of [player_tooltip player_id="33296" first="Charlotte" last="Kohler"], who scored her fifth goal of the event.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p1">USA dominated the play in the first half, but the Costa Rica squad defended valiantly throughout the opening stanza. Genesis Perez made an incredible save on a scuffed shot from [player_tooltip player_id="33426" first="Lauren" last="Martinho"] in the first half to keep the game close. Perez finished the game with eight saves.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p1">Riley Jackson scored from the spot in the second half to give USA some added breathing room. [player_tooltip player_id="18947" first="Onyeka" last="Gamero"] scored her first goal of the tournament to push the lead to 4-0. Claire Hutton joined the party late in the game with her sixth goal of the event, off an assist from [player_tooltip player_id="24957" first="Mia" last="Oliaro"].<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">USA U17 WNT beats Costa Rica 5-0, wins group at the Concacaf U17 Championship. Claire Hutton scored the final goal of the game. <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/USWNT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USWNT</a> <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/USYNT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USYNT</a> <a href="https://t.co/d4hBbOzUZQ">pic.x.com/d4hBbOzUZQ</a></p> — J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) <a href="https://x.com/JREskilson/status/1519434618952241152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <p class="p1">USA won the group comfortably with a plus 38 goal-differential from the three victories. The knock-out round of the competition kicks off this weekend as USA continues to the quest toward a spot at the 2022 U17 Women’s World Cup.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>