By Samuel Peters
The young Benna Girls finally broke their winless streak in Group C of the Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Qualifiers, securing a convincing 5-3 victory over St. Lucia in a thrilling encounter at the Stadion Rignaal ‘Jean’ Francisca in Willemstad, Curaçao. After enduring three consecutive defeats, Antigua and Barbuda produced their most complete performance of the tournament.
Keitonya Skepple was the star of the show, recording a memorable hat-trick opening her account in spectacular fashion in the 35th minute with a thunderous free-kick that gave the St. Lucia goalkeeper no chance. She continued her dominance in the second half, adding a header in the 78th minute to extend Antigua and Barbuda’s advantage before completing her hat-trick deep into stoppage time with a goal in the 90th minute plus three.
Nafisa Quashie provided support with a brace of her own finding the back of the net in the 42nd minute to give Antigua and Barbuda momentum heading into halftime, then unleashed a powerful free-kick of her own in the 73rd minute to further cement the victory. However, Quashie’s afternoon was slightly marred by an unfortunate own goal in the 30th minute that briefly gave St. Lucia hope.
St. Lucia showed fighting spirit despite the scoreline, with Kayla Polius pulling one back in the 54th minute to keep the contest competitive. Kyla Lionel added a late consolation goal in the 90th minute plus four, but it was too little, too late to prevent Antigua and Barbuda from celebrating a well-deserved victory. The result comes after losses to Haiti, Cayman Islands and Guatemala.
