ALAJUELA, Costa Rica – Gabriela Istocki and Alyssa McLeod scored as Canada defeated host Costa Rica 2-1 Sunday to finish third at the CONCACAF Girls’ U-15 Championship.

The Canadians, under coach Tina Cook, dropped into the third-place playoff after losing a penalty shootout to the U.S. in semifinal play Friday. The Americans won the shootout 4-2 after the game finished tied at 1-1.

The defended champion U.S. blanked Mexico 3-0 in Sunday’s final for its fifth straight win at the tournament.

Istocki opened the scoring in the ninth minute. After Lucia Paniagua tied it in the 25th minute, McLeod restored Canada’s lead in the 39th.

The Canadians downed Puerto Rico and El Salvador by identical 1-0 scores before falling 3-1 to Mexico in Group B play.

The fifth edition of the tournament featured a record 34 CONCACAF teams. The competition was split between three host countries with Costa Rica staging League A and Trinidad and Tobago and Aruba hosting League B and C, respectively.

Canada lost 4-1 to the U.S. in the League A final at the last CONCACAF U-15 Championship in 2022 in Tampa, Fla. The Americans also won in 2016 and 2018.

Canada won the tournament in 2014, beating Haiti on penalties in the final, and also finished runner-up in 2016. It failed to reach the semifinals in 2018.

Canadians who have played in the U-15 tournament include Olympic champions Julia Grosso (2014), Jordyn Huitema (2014 and 2016) and Jayde Riviere (2016).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2024.