The Lady Jaguars were dumped out the CONCACAF Women’s U20 Football competition losing to heavyweight Haiti by a 0-3 scoreline yesterday at the Estadio Panamericano, San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.
A historic hat-trick from 16 year old ‘wunderkind’ Melchie Dumornay relegated Guyana to their second loss in the tournament. Dumornay, the AS Tigresses midfielder, tied the record for the most goals recorded in the history of the tournament with the strikes, increasing her tally to 13 conversions.
The first occurred in the 18th minute when she raced into the box from the left side, and rifled a first-time right footed effort into the top right hand corner of the net, leaving the goalkeeper rooted with no chance of making a save.
Haiti would have to wait until the 54th minute for their second when Dumornay uncorked another powerful shot. This time into the lower left corner from the top of the 18-yard area.
Guyana’s best chance occurred one minute later but Nailah Rowe was denied by a diving goalkeeper in the 55th minute, following a left-sided free-kick 23 yards from the target.
It was their first and only attempt on goal for the entire contest which was then sealed in the 60th minute when Dumornay secured her hat-trick, calmly slotting home from the center of the box, after latching onto a squared pass from the right side of the penalty area.
The Lady Jaguars starting XI, which featured no locally based player, comprised Anessa O Brien (GK), Jenea Knight, Brianne Desa, Anaya Johnson, Jessica Myers, Jade Vuyfhuis, Serena McDonald, Kiana Khedoo, Nailah Rowe, Shanice Alfred and Audrey Narine. Locally based player Tiandi Smith made her appearance in the 73rd minute.
The scoreline was not a fair reflection of the gap between the countries. Haiti was guilty of poor finishing and could have easily won by a much larger margin. According to statistics provided by Data Factory, Haiti who entered the match with the most goals scored (34), recorded 14 shots in the first half, with only six being on target. The Haitians completed 200 of their 229 attempted passes at a rate of 87%. This translated to 60% possession. Although opting for a defensive approach, the Lady Jaguars seemed devoid of any attacking plan in the transition and on the counterattack, as they failed to record a single shot in the first half.
The Guyanese recorded 123 of their attempted 130 passes at completion percentage of 95% and a possession stat of 40%. In the analysis of the overall match, Haiti amassed 28 attempts, their second most in the event, with 12 being on target. This equated to 42%, their lowest on target conversion rate to date.
Haiti’s previous lowest conversion rate was 55% and occurred against Trinidad and Tobago. Prior to the clash, Haiti had outshot opponents by an enormous 108-4 margin, with 72 attempts finding their target at an average of 66%. The Haitians also completed 412 from 473 passes at 87%. The resulted in an overall possession stat of 63%. They also tallied 11 corner kicks.
Guyana registered three attempts, two of which were off target. This failure to create opportunities allowed Haiti to record their fifth clean sheet of the tournament, the joint most alongside the USA. They also completed 214 of 223 passes at a completion rate of 96%. This translated to 37% of possession.
The Lady Jaguars ended the tournament with a record of three wins and two losses. In the other quarterfinal matches, five-time winner USA crushed Canada 4-0 and hosts Dominican Republic beat Jamaica 2-1.
Up to press time, defending champions Mexico was scheduled to face Trinidad and Tobago. According to CONCACAF, the eventual finalists will qualify for the 2020 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted by Panama and Costa Rica.
