A flurry of late goals helped the U.S. U17 MNT pull away for a comfortable 5-0 win over Barbardos to begin the Conacacaf Championship.

San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Cruz Medina scored a hat trick, grabbing his third in injury time, while substitutes Keyrol Figueroa and Taha Habroune also found the back of the net.

While the U.S. defense was untroubled at the start of the game, it took the offense a decent amount of time to get into full flow. Even then, it took a 24th minute penalty to get the scoring going. After midfielder Edwyn Mendoza was fouled in the box, Cruz Medina had his penalty stopped by Barbados goalkeeper Jireh Malcolm. Great work from forward Ezekiel Soto saw him first to the rebound, and he found Medina unmarked for the opening goal.

The Earthquakes homegrown signee scored the second in spectacular fashion. After Adrian Gill won a long ball, he chested the ball to Medina, who unleashed a strike that rocketed past Malcolm to make it 2-0 at the half.

That looked to be all the U.S. would get, and certainly all that would be needed. Ferree, making his first U17 MNT appearance, was untroubled for most of the game.

Figueroa eventually added a third in the 86th minute, as he sprawled low to head home an excellent Brian Romero cross. Habroune headed home a fourth goal just two minutes later, glancing home Figueroa’s looping header from a set piece. Medina one-timed his third goal home from a David Vazquez cross, allowing the U.S. to finish the with a +5 goal differential.

Up next for the U.S. is a Monday matchup against Trinidad & Tobago on Monday at 8 p.m.

U.S. Lineup: Duran Ferree; Oscar Verhoeven, Tyler Hall, Stuart Hawkins (Christian Diaz), Paulo Rudisill (Sawyer Jura); Edwyn Mendoza, Adrian Gill (Taha Habroune), Cruz Medina; Brian Romero, Ezekiel Soto (Keyrol Figueroa), Micah Burton (David Vazquez)

🎥 🇺🇸 🆚 🇧🇧 | Watch the best moments of the @USYNT victory in #CU17C 👇

📰 https://t.co/PgMT0vdUwq 👈 pic.twitter.com/RObpoVFAeo

— Concacaf (@Concacaf) February 12, 2023

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