Canada 4 - St. Kitts and Nevis 0

In the Group D finale, Canada got to play a celebration match against St. Kitts and Nevis after having qualified for round three of qualifying four days ago. However, the crowd in Toronto surely wanted some of their doubts quieted after Canada's last two matches resulted in draws to unheralded Puerto Rico and St. Kitts. The cold weather appeared to freeze the St. Kitts team, though they had the first big chance of the match when Akil Grier fired off a post. Canada then began to flex their muscles. Olivier Occean (pictured, red #16) slid onto a wayward shot in the box to score Canada's opener. Soon thereafter, Canada's best player on the night Tosaint Ricketts drew a penalty kick. Dwayne de Rosario (pictured, red #14) converted the penalty kick to equal Canada's all-time scoring record with 19 international goals, six from the penalty spot. Canada scored from a header off a corner kick in stoppage time to end the first half up 3-0.

St. Kitts were unable to handle Canada on the night, so they sat back and defended in the second half. With two minutes to go, a hard de Rosario shot left a rebound for Ricketts to slide and kick in for the cap on a 4-0 win for Canada. Canada can feel good about themselves now as they move onto the the third round of qualifying next June.

Goals

Canada

Olivier Occean 27

Dwayne de Rosario 35 PK

Josh Simpson 45+3

Tosaint Ricketts 88

Match Reports:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/314541

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/mls/story/?id=380538

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/11/15/wcq-recap-canada-rout-st-kitts-4-0-2nd-rd-finale

Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpE28bpE6xg

Puerto Rico 3 - St. Lucia 0

Puerto Rico hosted St. Lucia for the second time in four days, though this time the scene shifted to Mayaguez. Hector Ramos of the Puerto Rico Islanders club team continued his hot streak against St. Lucia. After scoring a brace for the Blue Hurricane last Friday, Ramos added today's opener at the same time in the first half as he had scored in the previous match. Ramos's goal accounted for all the scoring in a 1-0 first half.

Puerto Rico were made to sweat for the majority of the second half as they were unable to pull ahead by a two-goal margin. However, with four minutes left in the match, Ramos scored his second consecutive brace. In the shock of realizing they were doomed to lose, St. Lucia conceded a third goal two minutes later. Puerto Rico finish their 2014 FIFA World Cup with this 3-0 home victory over last-place St. Lucia, who can still take pride in having advanced over Aruba via the first penalty kick shootout of the tournament in round one. With consecutive wins, Puerto Rico find themselves in position to finish second place in Group D pending the result of the St. Kitts and Nevis match tomorrow. So long as St. Kitts do not win in Canada, Puerto Rico are second place.

Goals:

Puerto Rico

Hector Ramos 13, 86

Joseph Marrero 88

Canada 0 - St. Kitts and Nevis 0; Puerto Rico 4 - St. Lucia 0

Canada paid a visit to Basseterre knowing a draw against St. Kitts and Nevis would net the Canucks the Group D title and a trip to the CONCACAF Third Round. Canada never looked close to scoring in the first half, but the objective was clearly to secure a tie on the road and secure passage into the next phase of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. St. Kitts had the only chance of the scoreless first half.

As St. Kitts pressed for the win which they needed to avoid elimination, holes opened up on the counterattack for Canada, and the second half was much more entertaining. Akil Byron made a one-on-one save to deny a goal for Canada, leaving the game's best chance begging. The final score of 0-0 eliminates St. Kitts from the 2014 FIFA World Cup as Canada advance to Group Three of the CONCACAF Third Round. Canada join Panama in that phase as the two teams move on to meet Honduras and Cuba.

Puerto Rico, buoyed by solid performances so far in this group including a road draw to Canada, faced St. Lucia at home in Bayamon, though the match was designated as a home match for St. Lucia. Puerto Rico were looking to take second place in the group over St. Kitts with good performances against St. Lucia this week. In the first half, Puerto Rico scored twice in the first fifteen minutes and made the 2-0 lead hold up through halftime.

Just in case St. Lucia had designs on a comeback, Puerto Rico scored their third one minute into the half. A goal seven minutes later sealed the win for Puerto Rico. Both teams lost a man to a red card in the 81st minute with Puerto Rico losing Richard Martinez and St. Lucia losing Kevin Edward. Puerto Rico are pleased by the final score of 4-0. The two teams meet again in Puerto Rico on Monday.

Canada 11 pts - IN
St. Kitts OUT

Puerto Rico OUT
St. Lucia OUT

Goals

Puerto Rico

Cristrian Arrieta 4

Hector Ramos 14, 46

Andres Cabrero 53

Match Reports:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2011/11/12/molinaro_canada/

http://www.oyetimes.com/sports/79-soccer/15296-canada-advances-to-concacaf-round-3-of-world-cup-qualifiers

http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2011/11/canada-unglamorous-effective

http://futbolboricua.blogspot.com/2011/11/primera-victoria-mundialista-para.html

Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRolaTfJvS0 (St. Kitts v. Canada)

Puerto Rico 0 - Canada 0; St. Lucia 1 - St. Kitts and Nevis 1

Puerto Rico were content to sit back and defend Canada on their visit to Toronto in spite of the knowledge that only a win could keep their hopes alive. A famous result in Canada would be more important than an unlikely qualification. All four midfielders sat back and defended in front of five defenders, forcing Canada to go for tough passes to break Puerto Rico down. To make matters worse, Iain Hume went down to a hamstring injury for Canada with ten minutes remaining in the period. The first half ended scoreless.

Puerto Rico seemed to be playing for the one counterattack opportunity to spring a 1-0 win. With six minutes to go, Puerto Rico found themselves one-on-one with Canadian goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld, who took a hard shot to his chest to preserve the eventual 0-0 draw.

St. Kitts and Nevis welcomed St. Lucia to Basseterre, knowing that Canada's draw earlier in the day had left the door open for St. Kitts to pull closer to the summit of Group D. St. Kitts received an early penalty kick opportunity, but this was blown by Jevon Francis. Ian Lake hit the crossbar on a header for the home side, and no goals were to be found in the first forty five minutes.

In the second stanza, St. Kitts again squandered a chance, this time from within the six-yard box. St. Lucia found the opener fifteen minutes from time against the run of play, but Lake redirected a cross with his head for the equalizer nine minutes later. St. Kitts were unable to find victory, however, and the 1-1 draw means that St. Kitts must defeat Canada home and away in November to advance to Round Four.

Canada 10 pts

St. Kitts 6 pts

Puerto Rico OUT

St. Lucia OUT

Goals

St. Lucia

Cliff Magnam Valcin 75

St. Kitts and Nevis

Ian Lake 84

Match Reports:

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=377893

http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/article/1068102--canada-ties-145th-ranked-puerto-rico-0-0-in-cup-qualifier

http://sknfa.com/?p=1073

Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK8Lv7P3aAo (Puerto Rico v. Canada)

Puerto Rico 1 - St. Kitts and Nevis 1; Canada 7 - St. Lucia 0

Canada paid a visit to the tropical Caribbean island of St. Lucia, but it was strictly for business. When the Canucks took to the pitch at Gros Islet, the objective was clear: win. Norwich City striker Simeon Jackson (pictured) had his best international performance, scooping up a first-half hat trick in a twenty-minute span. Canada took a 4-0 lead into the second half.

Canada continued to assault St. Lucia's goal. Three more goals were scored to give Canada a 7-0 final scoreline in their favor. Not all went well for Canada, however. Will Johnson had to be subbed off in the seventeenth minute due to an ankle sprain and will be the Puerto Rico match on Tuesday. After suffering this massive drubbing at home, St. Lucia have been eliminated from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

A result that Canada loved seeing came out of the match between hosts Puerto Rico and visiting St. Kitts and Nevis in Bayamon. The two sides played to a scoreless draw in their first meeting, and Puerto Rico had yet to score in the competition.

Canada 9 pts +13

St. Kitts 5 pts +2

Puerto Rico 2 pts -3

St. Lucia 0 pts -12

Goals

Canada

Simeon Jackson 19, 27, 39

Oliver Occean 35, 52

Iain Hume 73, 86

Puerto Rico

Andres Cabrero 34

St. Kitts and Nevis

Ian Lake 58

Match Reports:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/travel/Canada+pummels+Lucia+World+qualifier/5521155/story.html

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=377626

http://latinosports.com/soccer/wc-concacaf-qualifiers-puerto-rico-battle-st.-kitts-and-nevis-to-a-1-1-draw.html

Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3v33JJsb-o (Canada v. St. Lucia)

Canada 3 - Puerto Rico 0; St. Kitts and Nevis 4 - St. Lucia 2

St. Kitts and Nevis paid a visit to fellow islanders St. Lucia at Gros Islet. St. Lucia were looking to add other saints to their name because Lucia just was not enough to put up a fight against visiting St. Kitts. The goals came early and often for St. Kitts, with three goals coming in the first quarter hour of the match, effectively ending St. Lucia's hopes of a result before the home side could find a rhythm. St. Kitts added a fourth one minute before halftime, giving themselves a 4-0 lead.

St. Lucia, to their credit, did not give up on the match, and they were able to pull back two goals before the final whistle sounded to come up with a less disastrous scoreline than their previous 4-1 defeat in Canada. St. Kitts and Nevis jump to second place in the group ahead of Puerto Rico.

Group favorites Canada visited the side pegged as being their greatest challengers for the Group D title, Puerto Rico. However, the Canadians found that to them, their biggest challenger was the humid weather of Bayamon. The big question was weather the Canadians were in good enough physical condition to conquer both the weather and Puerto Rico. Canada absorbed Puerto Rico's early pressure, with Lars Hirschfeld coming up with two good saves. The tide began turning in favor of the northerners soon after. An opportunistic goal four minutes from the end of the half sent Canada to the locker room up 1-0.

In the second half, it was Puerto Rico who surprisingly became the team that was slowed down by the weather. Canada were alert to this, and intelligently substituted two speedy offensive players into the mix, with great dividends being paid in the final six minutes of the match. Canada's substitutes scored two goals in this period to seal the victory and paint a glossier picture of the match through the final scoreline of 3-0 than perhaps was merited by their performance. Canada assume control of the top of the table with the victory.

Canada 6 pts +6

St. Kitts 4 pts +2

Puerto Rico 1 pts -3

St. Lucia 0 pts -5

Goals:

St. Kitts and Nevis

Ian Lake 6

Mudassa Howe 12

Joel Jeffers 14

Devaughn Elliot 44

St. Lucia

Zaine Pierre 65

Cliff Vaclin 84

Canada

Iain Hume 41

Simeon Jackson 84

Tosaint Ricketts 89

Match Reports:

http://sknfa.com/?p=969

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2011/09/06/sp-canada-puertorico.html

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/sports/canada-gets-big-road-win-in-puerto-rico-61303.html

Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHHs6pFjuM (Canada v. Puerto Rico)

Canada 4 - St. Lucia 1; Puerto Rico 0 - St. Kitts and Nevis 0

If ever there were a team favored to win its group, it would be Canada. They played host to St. Lucia in their opening match of Group D play in Toronto. However, the Canucks were not on top of their game. Turkey-based Josh Simpson found a way to sloppily finish a goal six minutes into the match, but St. Lucia punished lax defending to equalize with a low strike from distance one measly minute later. The 1-1 halftime result was surely a shock to the fans in attendance.

In the second half, Canada drew a penalty on a hand ball in the box five minutes after the restart. Star midfielder Dwayne De Rosario calmly slotted home for 2-1. Simpson scored on a through ball after the hour mark. Pernal Williams was sent off for a second yellow card, leaving St. Lucia with ten men for the final three minutes plus stoppage time. Will Johnson scored his first international goal in stoppage time, giving Canada a 4-1 win to top the group.

St. Kitts and Nevis hosted Puerto Rico before its crowd in Basseterre. The first half featured lots of open play, but too many turnovers lead to few shots on goal and a scoreless first forty-five minutes.

The second half of play opened up nicely for the hosts, but they were never able to convert their superiority into a goal, so the game ended as it had begun, 0-0. St. Kitts and Nevis travel to play at St. Lucia on Tuesday. Puerto Rico go home to host Canada, also on Tuesday.

Goals:

Canada

Josh Simpson 6, 61

Dwayne De Rosario 51 PK

Will Johnson 90+1

St. Lucia

Tremain Paul 7

Match Reports:

http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/luke_wileman/?id=375070

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2011/09/03/dobson_awkward_affair/

http://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/40401

http://www.fedefutbolpr.com/noticias/sep11.htm

Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daL2oINNjm0 (Canada v. St. Lucia)