Things looked dire for the U.S. in the CONCACAF U-20 Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica on Tuesday. After already having a lackluster performance in a 1-0 defeat to Panama in the tournament opener on Saturday, the American kids found themselves trailing a feisty Haitian side just 15 minutes into the second match of the group stage on Tuesday. But powered by a Brooks Lennon hat trick, the U.S. stormed back for a 4-1 victory to jump to second in the Group B standings with one match left to play against bottom-dwelling Saint Kitts & Nevis on Friday.
The Real Salt Lake forward knotted the match up in the 28th minute when he scored a penalty, blasting it past the goalkeeper, who guessed right but couldn’t get to the rocket shot off Lennon’s right boot.
Luca de la Torre gave the U.S. its first lead of the tournament in the 52nd minute, then Lennon added his second goal of the night in the 53rd minute, as he took a pass from Portland Timbers forward Jeremy Ebobisse and slotted it past the goalkeeper for a 3-1 advantage.
Lennon then left no doubt on the match in the 58th minute with his third goal of the match. Ebobisse again set things up, this time with a speedy run up the right side that drew the Haiti defense before he dropped a pass back to de la Torre for a shot from distance. The keeper made the initial stop, but left the rebound in the path of Lennon charging up the right side unmarked for a left-footed putback that completed the hat trick and made it 4-1.
Lennon is now the tournament’s second-leading scorer through two matches, behind only Ronaldo Cisneros of Mexico.
However, Lennon wasn’t alone in his contribution to the big win for the U.S. Justen Glad – who stood out as one of the best players in the opening loss to Panama – and Danny Acosta again started on the back line together, while Sebastian Saucedo came on to play the final 19 minutes.
A fifth RSL Academy product, University of New Mexico defender Aaron Herrera, has been on the bench for both of the matches thus far, but has not made an appearance.