USVI downs The Bahamas
- Simba French
- 3 hrs ago
- 0
Players go after the ball during the match between The Bahamas and the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) in CONCACAF Nations League competition at Roscoe A.L. Davies Soccer Field complex on Wednesday. USVI won, 2-1.
After a 0-0 clean sheet stalemate in their match in October, The Bahamas and the United States Virgin Island (USVI) gave fans in attendance another competitive match on Wednesday, this time with The Bahamas falling short on its home field. The Bahamas lost, 2-1, to USVI to end their 2023 Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Nations League competition.
The competition, dubbed the ‘Road to CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup’, wrapped up for Team Bahamas.
Head Coach for The Bahamas Ricqea Bain said they had to switch their game plan after USVI scored in the 16th minute of the game.
“It was a sketchy game at first. We came out with a plan – Plan A, and then we tried to use Plan B and it started to work. We relied too much on Plan B. We had some opportunities, and we got one goal, but we were unable to put them away,” Bain said.
The USVI was able to find the back of the net in the 16th minute of the game when Mackeish Taylor volleyed the ball past Bahamian goalkeeper Kendi Outten.
The Bahamas was able to tie the match 1-1 when Kenyonique Thompson was able to punish USVI’s goalkeeper Levania Lawrence who bobbled a ball. Thompson touched it, placing it into the back of the net for her first international goal.
“It feels good to get my first international goal,” Thompson said. “I know we had a lot of opportunities to score goals and to score this goal felt good. The team knows we deserve this goal. However, we fell short in the end.”
Three minutes after Thompson scored, the USVI’s Bianca Canizio trapped the ball off her chest at the top of The Bahamas’ 18-yard box and drove it off her right foot past Outten to put the USVI up 2-1.
USVI Head Coach Jorge Zavala Jr. said he was happy that his team got their first win of the tournament.
“I thought the ladies played their hearts out. I am proud of the efforts that they put forward. It has been a long training camp as we prepared for this match. We are excited to have come here and got a win,” he said.
The Bahamas attacked more in the second half, knocking on USVI’s door. The visitors did not give in as their defense thwarted every opportunity The Bahamas tried for a second goal.
The Bahamas’ captain Karen Wert said that they were hoping to take the full three points with a win.
“We are disappointed as we were hoping for a win. We tied them at their home and we were hoping to take the win at our home. I felt we had a good game and we had the better team but sometimes it just ends like that and we could not finish. We made a few mistakes in the back,” Wert said.
Group C ended with Grenada coming out on top with the full 12 points. The USVI finished second with four points and The Bahamas finished third with one point after their 0-0 draw against USVI.