Dominica Suffers 5–0 Defeat against St. Lucia in WIFA Women’s Championship

Dominica’s senior women’s team endured a difficult outing on Tuesday, suffering a 5–0 defeat to St. Lucia in the WIFA Women’s Championship.

The match was shaped early on when St. Lucia scored twice in quick succession in

the 20th and 21st minutes. The swift double strike left Dominica unsettled and

chasing the game from the start.

Coach Ronnie Gustave highlighted differences in how the two teams approached

the match.

“Well, you could see St. Lucia were much more organized than us. And you

could see the level of their players were way above the level of our players. You could see their entire team had the basics. And seeing that they had a few

foreign players as well made a big difference in the game.”

“Nevertheless, we are in a competition and we are supposed to do a good

account of ourselves. But as I have said early on in previous interviews, we are

trying to build a team. And you cannot build a team just in a month. It's going to

take a while,” he added.

After regrouping, Dominica showed moments of determination but struggled to

convert possession into attacking chances. Coach Gustave noted that there were some players who stood out in tonight’s match and have shown great improvement.

“Well, Dymond is one of the people who has always been coming up big for us. I

saw a few new players like Anessa (Lean) Laurent. It's her first time playing on

that level. And she did a good account of herself as well this evening.”

“I have to say Dymond has come a very long way. Two years ago, she made her

debut on the senior national team. And she was in Suriname with us. And she

got her opportunity in that game there…And then she has not given up. She has

been working on her own. And you could see that she has come so far as well.

She has elevated. And that's what we need from each player.”

St. Lucia, however, remained relentless, adding a third goal in the 61st minute to

tighten their grip on the match.

Seeking to change momentum, Dominica made substitutions in the 81st minute.

But before the adjustments could take effect, St. Lucia struck again just a minute

later, stretching the lead to 4–0. The final blow came deep into stoppage time, as

St. Lucia scored once more in the 90+1 minute to seal a commanding 5–0 victory.

Dominica will look to regroup quickly as they continue their campaign and face

Barbados, who will have the momentum coming into the match after having

defeated hosts, St Vincent, 2-0.

“From watching Barbados, if I have to analyze the two teams in this

tournament, it has to be Barbados and St. Lucia. Because both of them, you

could see their players are very confident on the ball. And they are well-

structured as a team. In offense, you see them move down in offense as one

team. And in transition, they also get back together. So you could see that as a

team that has been training together for quite a while,” Coach Gustave observed.

“But I know the girls and I know once we continue training and doing the basics,

that's what we're lacking. And if you don't have the basics, you will not have

confidence. So once you get that basics going, then the confidence will come

into it.”

Thursday’s matchup against Barbados will be Dominica’s final game in the round-

robin.