ALAJUELA — Alyssa McLeod scored in a losing cause Thursday as Canada fell 3-1 to Mexico in its final group game at the CONCACAF Girl's U-15 Championship.
Both teams had already qualified for the semifinals, with the Canadians downing Puerto Rico and El Salvador by identical 1-0 scores in earlier Group B play.
Evelyn Contreras scored all three goals for Mexico, in the 25th, 48th and 53rd minutes. McLeod, assisted by Myla Ewasiuk, replied in the 52nd minute.
Canada will face the unbeaten U.S. in Friday's semifinal.
The Canadians lost 4-1 to the U.S. in the League A final at the last CONCACAF U-15 Championship in 2022 in Tampa, Fla. The Americans also won in 2016 and 2018.
The fifth edition of the tournament, which runs through Sunday, features a record 34 CONCACAF teams. The competition is split between three host countries with Costa Rica staging League A and Trinidad and Tobago and Aruba hosting League B and C, respectively.
Canada won the tournament in 2014, beating Haiti on penalties in the final, and also finished runner-up in 2016. It failed to reach the semifinals in 2018.
Canadians who have played in the U-15 tournament include Olympic champions Julia Grosso (2014), Jordyn Huitema (2014 and 2016) and Jayde Riviere (2016).
The current Canadian team is coached by Tina Cook.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2024
The Canadian Press
