A late goal from Claudia Martínez lifted Washington Spirit to a 1-0 win over Pachuca and secured a place in the Concacaf W Champions Cup final.
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| Photo: EFE |
Washington Spirit survived a difficult semifinal and found a late breakthrough to defeat CF Pachuca Femenil 1-0 on Wednesday night, advancing to the Concacaf W Champions Cup final.
The decisive moment came in the 81st minute when Claudia Martínez scored after a central run from Lucia Di Guglielmo created space inside the Pachuca defense.
Pachuca controlled large stretches of the first half behind the leadership of Charlyn Corral, who created several dangerous chances and tested goalkeeper Sandy MacIver with a curling effort midway through the opening period.
Washington Spirit gradually settled into the match and nearly scored before halftime through Rosemonde Kouassi and Hal Hershfelt, but Pachuca goalkeeper Esthefanny Barreras kept the game level.
The Mexican side also came close in the second half when Abril Fragoso narrowly missed the target on a dangerous cross-shot attempt.
With the match seemingly heading toward extra time, Spirit capitalized on one defensive lapse to find the winning goal and continue its perfect run through the tournament.
Washington Spirit has now won every match in the competition without conceding a single goal.
The NWSL club will now face Club América Femenil in Saturday’s final after América defeated Gotham FC earlier in the day.
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