The US have booked their spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics after beating Canada 1-0 thanks to a late second-half penalty converted by Alex Morgan and they were crowned champions of the 2022 Concacaf W Championship.
The Americans came out firing in the opening minutes of the game and it seemed to throw Canada off guard as throughout the entire tournament they had been the aggressor.
Mallory Pugh and Rose Lavelle were the catalysts for an American side that looked hungry to book their spot in the Olympics and retain their Concacaf crown.
The goal scored by Morgan came in the second half as Lavelle with what was called a soft contact which saw her trip and fall to the ground prompting the official to point to the spot.
Morgan facing her teammate from the NWSL Kailen Sheridan beat her as Sheridan went for the opposite side and the US finally had the breakthrough they had been looking for.
Despite that Canada kept on pushing looking for the equalizer and fought till the very last second when the final whistle blew. After the game, Morgan spoke about what it meant for her side to get the win.
" We worked on a lot of things this week on how to break them down, how to play quick and Rose did what she does best and I finished it off but there were plenty of opportunities to finish it off but it came down to the penalty and I am happy we got the win".
Bev Priestman was asked for her input about the penalty and the game and it looked like disappointment on her face.
" I think we got stretched at a moment, first half they got in on us and we changed some things at halftime and the game was decided on a penalty and you saw some world-class defending and this group threw everything right till the very end".
Ashley Lawrence who has been solid on Canada's back line gave her reaction to just falling short of obtaining the team's goal of a spot at the Olympics.
" It's always a tough match against the US, I thought that we grew a lot throughout this tournament, we had consistent performances and our goal was to be in the final, to qualify for the World Cup and the Olympics, and unfortunately we fell short today but I am super proud of this team because we fought till the final whistle".
Vanessa Gilles who also played one of her best games on the backline was also disappointed with the result and gave full credit to the US.
" Obviously we came here to win and we didn't get the result but we have another two games to qualify for the Olympics and it's not what we had hoped for but it's always a battle when we play the US, I don't think we put our best foot forward but we defended well but unfortunately it didn't go our way this time.
Canada will now have to play Jamaica in a two-game playoff to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics and those games are scheduled for September 2023.
Canada did take home some honors as Kailen Sheridan did win the award for the best goalkeeper while Julia Grosso won the top goal scorer for the tournament.