Ticas take silver in Barranquilla

The U21 women’s soccer team won the silver medal in the Central American and Caribbean games after losing 3-1 against Mexico in Barranquilla, Colombia.

The game started well for Costa Rica. Katherine Alvarado gave La Sele an early lead after a foul on Gabriela Guillén in the 12th minute gave Costa Rica a penalty. Alvarado’s kick was good and the Ticas took the lead.

The rest of the first half remained fairly even. Mexico possessed the ball for 51 percent of the first half and the Ticas held on to the ball for 49 percent of the time.

Then the Mexican team reorganized their squad, came out strong and scored all three of their goals in a four-minute window.

Veronica Corral tied the game in the 59th minute and then Kenti Robles followed up in the 61st minute to give Mexico the lead. Then a clearly offside Katie Johnson made it 3-1 in the 62nd minute and that was the last goal of the game.

With Amelia Valverde at the coaching helm, La Sele beat their best Central American and Caribbean Games result, a bronze medal in Veracruz, Mexico.

Costa Rica is now ranked 15th in these games with 22 medals. Six of them are silver and 12 bronze. Costa Rica is still waiting on gold.