PUEBLA, Mexico — LSU midfielder Taryne Boudreau and the Under-20 Canadian National Team blanked the United States by the score of 1-0 in Saturday’s championship match to win the title at the 2008 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championships at Cuauhtemoc Stadium.
By winning the eight-team tournament held by The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, Canada has earned the right to compete at the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup to be held in Chile from Nov. 19-Dec. 7.
This marks the second major international tournament in which Boudreau will represent Canada after making the trip to Russia for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championships last summer.
Canada won the CONCACAF championship with a perfect 5-0-0 record, including a 2-1 victory over tournament host Mexico in its semifinal match on Friday night. The squad opened the event in group play with a 2-0 blanking of Nicaragua on June 17, followed by an impressive 3-1 victory over Jamaica on June 19 and a dominating 4-0 defeat of Costa Rica on June 21.
It’s the second time in three tries that Canada has been crowned champion of the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championships as the squad won the title on its home soil in 2004 before finishing runner-up in 2006. The team is set to compete in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for the third straight time dating back to the tournament’s inception in 2002.
Behind Canada and the United States, Mexico finished in third place to clinch the final qualifying spot for this year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Mexico battled Costa Rica to a 2-2 draw in regulation before clinching third place by winning the penalty shootout on Saturday.