Game

The USA started quickly with a goal in the 6th minute when Reddick headed the ball in from eight yards off a cross by Wagner. Zepeda made it 2-0 in the 18th minute after taking a pass from Wallis, beating a player and putting her shot over the goalkeeper. In first half stoppage time Ramsey lifted a ball from Wallis over the charging goalkeeper from 12 yards. The Finland-Denmark game was tied at halftime and the U.S. team did not know that they would need one more goal to make the final. Fifteen minutes into the second half, Welsh’s first time hit of a low cross from Zepeda into the bottom right corner from 12 yards provided the crucial score. With minutes remaining the U.S. team knew the Finland score in their win and played the clock out to earn a spot in the championship game.

Post match quotes

U.S. Head Coach Jerry Smith

The goal after group play was to get to the final and we've done that. Like our U.S. Men's National Team in the World Cup, we got a little help from a team in our group, but we're looking forward to defending our Nordic Cup championship against Germany. Our focus on finishing was much sharper today than in the previous two matches, as it will need to be on Sunday, as Germany won't allow us many opportunities.

Cat Reddick

We put ourselves in a terrible position of having to rely on another team. But we knew all we could do was take care of our own business and hope that Finland could handle Denmark. It goes to show that you're never out of it until the final whistle blows, so we just keeping pushing forward and silently rooting for Finland.

Alyssa Ramsey

Our goal coming into the game was to score early and keep our shots on frame. Getting three goals in the first half was key, but luckily we got that fourth one to put us through.

Other

Greece was playing with their full Women's National Team on a special invitation to the U-21 event in order to gain some international experience in preparation for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. At least five members of the Greek team are Greek-American players who attend various U.S. colleges.

This is the sixth consecutive trip by the U.S. Under-21 National Team to the Nordic Cup Championship Game.