Club America defeat the Washington Spirit for CONCACAF W Champions Cup title

PACHUCA, Mexico — Irene Guerrero scored the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute and Scarlett Camberos added another in stoppage time to seal a 5-3 victory for Club America over the Washington Spirit for the CONCACAF W Champions Cup title Saturday night.

It was the second regional championship for women’s club teams. Gotham FC, the defending champions, fell 3-0 to Pachuca in the third place-match earlier Saturday at Estadio Hildalgo.

Liga MX’s Club America took the early lead when Aylín Aviléz’s tapped in a goal off a pass from Camberos in the 22nd minute. They doubled the lead in the 27th with Geyse’s goal just some five minutes later.

Sofia Cantore narrowed the score for the NWSL’s Spirit with a goal from 35 yards out. Rosemonde Kouassi tied it at 2 just 35 seconds into the second half.

Kouassi chipped in a second goal in the 58th to give the Spirit the lead. She was the tournament’s top scorer with six total goals.

But Geyse took advantage of a mistake from Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver to score a second goal in the 61st that pulled Club America into a 3-3 tie.

Guerrero came score from out front and into the bottom right corner in the in 79th, off another assist from Camberos.

Camberos, Club America’s captain, scored six minutes into stoppage time to clinch the win. She was named the best player of the final with a goal and two assists.

“Obviously, the result stings a little bit, but incredible effort from the team, to be two goals down and come back and tie it up,” said the Spirit’s Kate Wiesner. “I think we showed a lot of resilience today, which is what we want to be part of our DNA as the Spirit. And so proud of the fight that we put up, obviously came up short, but a lot of lessons learned and a lot of things we can take back and hopefully improve on.”

The Spirit advanced to the final with a 1-0 semifinal victory over Pachuca. Club America downed Gotham 4-1.