U.S. ties Haiti 2-2, wins Gold Cup first-round group

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Stuart Holden scored in the first minute of second-half injury time, giving the United States a 2-2 tie with Haiti on Saturday night in its final first-round game at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The Americans, seeking their third straight title in the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean, finished first in Group B and will play El Salvador or the third-place team in Group C next Saturday in Philadelphia. The United States (2-0-1), which already had clinched advancement, improved to 23-0-2 in Gold Cup group play.

Haiti (1-1-1) finished third in the group round and also advanced. The two best of the three third-place teams move on.

Davy Arnaud put the United States ahead in the sixth minute, but Haiti stunned the Americans with goals in the first four minutes of the second half by Sirin Vaniel and Mones Chery.

The United States once again started a young lineup, with goalkeeper Luis Robles, and midfielders Sam Cronin and Colin Clark making their first international appearances. So did 32-year-old defender Jay Heaps, a member of the New England Revolution and veteran of 301 Major League Soccer games.

Six of the starting 11 made their first national team starts, with those four joined by forward Arnaud and defender Brad Evans.

Holden, a Houston Dynamo midfielder, also played a role in the first goal. He made a short pass to Arnaud, who gathered it in at the top of the penalty area, to the left of defender Frantz Bertin. Arnaud then rolled a soft left-footed shot to the right of goalkeeper Jean Dominique Zephirin, who came out to cut down the angle.

The United States controlled play for the first 30 minutes before Haiti became more aggressive.

Haiti nearly tied the game in injury time at the end of the first half. A crossing pass from the left side eluded Fabrice Noel just in front of Robles. But the ball continued on to Vaniel, who fired a shot that Robles managed to kick out with his knee.

Vaniel got it back but shot the ball off the outside of the net.

The Haitians didn't miss their next two big chances.

In the first minute of the second half, Leonel Saint Preaux sent a crossing pass from near the right corner that soared over the outstretched right hand of Robles. Vaniel got to it before it hit the ground and headed it into the net.

A poor judgment by Robles led to the next goal. He left his net to try and get to a ball to his left. Before he reached it, the ball was passed out to Chery. Robles raced back to get in position, but Chery sent a 25-foot shot into the upper left corner as the goalkeeper was still running in that direction.