US women’s national team tops rival Canada in penalties to advance to CONCACAF Gold Cup Final matchup with Brazil: Keeper Alyssa Naeher saves three and converts her attempt

The United States women’s soccer team advances to the Gold Cup final to face Brazil thanks to a dramatic victory over rival Canada in sloppy San Diego on Wednesday night.

Alyssa Naeher saved three penalties after a rain-soaked 2-2 tie, and even scored a PK to help the United States advance, 3-1. Brazil defeated Mexico 3-0 in the previous semifinal match.

The game was a sneaker disaster with standing water on the field at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium due to heavy rain in San Diego.

Players had difficulty with control. Canadian Vanessa Gilles twisted the front of her soaked T-shirt to squeeze out some of the rainwater.

Jaedyn Shaw scored in the 20th minute. A Canada defender attempted to return the ball to goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, but stopped on the waterlogged field and Shaw ran toward him and scored.

Shaw is the first American player to score in each of her first four starts.

Jordyn Huitema tied the score in the 82nd minute with a header that was just out of reach of U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.

Smith broke the deadlock in the 99th, falling to her knees in celebration before being mobbed by her teammates.

But Naeher collided with Gilles in the 120th minute and Canada was awarded a penalty, which Adriana León calmly converted to tie the game at 2.

Naeher made two saves to open the shootout and converted a penalty of his own. He stopped Jesse Fleming to send the United States into the title fight.

With Brazil’s victory, the United States was denied a revenge match against Mexico, which pulled off the biggest upset of the group stage by defeating the United States 2-0. It was only the second time the Americans had lost to their southern neighbors in 43 games.

The United States bounced back from that loss with a 3-0 victory over Colombia in the quarterfinals. Canada, which scored 13 goals in its group without conceding, beat Costa Rica 1-0 in overtime in its quarterfinal match.

It was the fourteenth time the United States faced Canada in the knockout round of a competitive tournament. The United States has won 11 of the previous 13 meetings. Canada’s only victory came in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics.

“That’s getting back to that American mentality that we’ve been talking about, that we needed and it’s in us,” the American captain said. Lindsey Horan told CBS’s Jenny Chiu.

It was Canada’s first major tournament without captain Christine Sinclair, who retired from the national team last year as men’s and women’s soccer’s all-time leading scorer with 190 career goals.

Mexico eliminated Paraguay 3-2 in the quarterfinals. Brazil defeated Argentina 5-1.

Brazil received goals from Adriana Leal, Antonia and Yasmín, while Mexico was left with one player less after Nicolette Hernández was sent off in the 29th minute.

The tournament was the first women’s Gold Cup, designed to give the region’s teams meaningful competition. Four of the teams that participated (United States, Canada, Brazil and Colombia) will play in the Olympic Games this summer.