Bermuda 1 Puerto Rico 2

A stoppage-time goal by substitute Mia Colón earned Puerto Rico a hard-fought victory over a determined Bermuda in the Concacaf Under-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

While Puerto went through to the next round as group winners, Bermuda, who finished with six points, retain a chance of qualifying as one of the two best second-place finishers from the six groups when the qualifiers conclude on Saturday.

Colon’s outstretched leg got the ball past a resolute Taya Rodrigues, whose brilliant goalkeeping had denied Puerto Rico on a number of occasions in the match.

With Bermuda needing to avoid defeat to qualify, Evans Welch’s magnificent strike in the 59th minute restored Gary Adams’s side on top of group A. This was after Gabriella Garnett had given the home team the lead in the 33rd minute.

Welch’s goal, assisted by Keyandae Lightbourne, came after a great tackle by Janiya Sealey denied Jaeda Russell a clear shot at goal.

An injured Sealey was later taken off hurt, replaced in the 75th minute by Nila Samuels.

Russell had her effort blocked by Rodrigues in the 64th minute. The Bermuda goalkeeper was called into action again a few minutes before the end to make a number of saves.

With Bermuda seconds away from winning the group, Samuels was adjudged to have fouled Camila Adame. Garnett floated the ball into the box and Colon was allowed to squeeze the ball through.

SCORERS

Bermuda: Welch 59

Puerto Rico: Garnett 33, Colón 90+5

TEAMS

Bermuda (4-3-3): T Rodrigues – J Peets-Butterfield, A Simons (sub: T Glasgow, 30), A Burrows, Z Showers – N Welch (sub: C Dowling, 75), J Sealey (sub: N Samuels, 75), K Lightbourne – A Patton, M Gibbons-Thomas, D Outerbridge. Substitutes not used: S Baisden-Scott, N Minors, S Trott, J Trott, A Barry, K Curling, P Denbrook.

Puerto Rico (4-2-3-1): C Marin – Z Kern, P Foye, S O’Neill, C Ferraiuoli – C Adame, D Acevedo – Z Melia (sub: M Colón, 77), A Torres-Rava, J Russell (sub: S Centeno, 84) – G Garnett. Substitutes not used: A Vega, V Moore, M Poidomani, V Flores, C Smith, A Cabrera, I Todaro, L France.

Referee: X Ruiz (Mexico).