Wisconsin Soccer Central

University of Wisconsin midfielder Rose Lavelle started both matches as the U.S. Under-20 women's national team won its first two games at the CONCACAF Championships in George Town, Cayman Islands.

Lavelle, the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year for the Badgers last fall, went 70 minutes in a 6-0 rout of Costa Rica on Thursday and played the full 90 in Saturday's 3-0 victory over Jamaica.

"We really wanted to be able to control the tempo of the game, and I think it started a little hectic," Lavelle said after the win over Jamaica. "Toward the end of the first half we were able to settle down and eventually get a goal. It was more physical than the previous game, and we had to focus more on the air game because we knew they'd come out and be good in that aspect. I think we did a good job at that."

Saturday's victory extended the Americans' winning streak in the tournament to 12 games and clinched a spot in Friday's semifinals. The two semifinal winners earn berths in next summer's FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Canada, along with the winner of the third-place match.

The U.S. closes out Group A play on Monday against Guatemala (0-1-1). Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the match will be televised on Fox Soccer Plus and streamed live on Fox Soccer 2GO, with former U.S. national teamer Leslie Osborne (Brookfield/Waukesha Catholic Memorial) serving as one of the announcers. The Fox Soccer 2GO stream is free (details here).

"We're definitely happy," Lavelle said. "We came here to qualify for the World Cup and we've accomplished our first goal, which was to make the semis, but now we want to finish at the top of our group. We have another game we need to focus on, so that's the next step. We are going to use (Sunday) to recover and we want to come out strong (against Guatemala), score some goals and get a shutout."