Sporting Kansas City defender Jaylin Lindsey started and played 90 minutes on Wednesday as the United States U-20 Men's National Team stayed perfect at the 2018 Concacaf U-20 Championship with a 6-0 win over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as IMG Academy Stadium in Bradenton, Florida.
After starting in a 7-1 victory against Puerto Rico to open the tournament last Thursday, Lindsey returned to Sporting KC and was an unused substitute in Sunday's 1-1 conference semifinal draw at Real Salt Lake. The 18-year-old Academy product then returned to the U.S. U-20s for Wednesday's contest versus Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, having missed group stage wins over U.S. Virgin Islands on Nov 3 and Trinidad and Tobago on Nov. 5.
Lindsey and the U.S. sit atop Group A with 12 points from four wins and will aim to qualify for the Classification Stage on Friday against Suriname at IMG Academy Stadium, kicking off at 4:30 p.m. CT with a live stream on Concacaf GO. The Americans need a win or draw to ensure advancement to the Classification Stage, but could still advance with a loss thanks to a vastly superior goal difference (+28 to Suriname's +13).
Following round-robin group play, the top team in each of the six groups will advance to the Classification Stage of the Concacaf U-20 Championship, where they will be divided into two groups of three. After a second phase of round-robin play, the two group winners plus the second-place finishers will qualify as Concacaf's four representatives for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland. Additionally, the two group winners will advance to the tournament final on Nov. 21 to determine the regional champion.
Led by head coach Tab Ramos, the U-20s scored all six goals after halftime against an outmatched Saint Vincent side. Juan Pablo Torres opened the scoring in the 46th minute and Ulusses Llanez made it 2-0 on the hour-mark before Anthony Fontana erupted for a late hat-trick. Brandon Servania bagged the final goal on 90 minutes to put the finishing touches on a comprehensive win. Lindsey and the U.S. backline limited Saint Vincent to two total shot attempts, just one of which tested goalkeeper Brady Scott.
