Next up for the American women is the 2006 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup that will serve as qualifying for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup, to be held in China next September. The USA will play its Women’s Gold Cup semifinal on Nov. 22 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., taking on the winner of the Mexico-Trinidad & Tobago quarterfinal match that will be held on Nov. 19 in Miami.

In a game played at the beautiful Seoul World Cup Stadium in front of almost 16,000 fans, the USA matched Canada’s combative play and got a wonder strike from Lilly midway through the second half that stood up for the victory.

After struggling to create quality chances all game against Canada’s compact and organized defense, the USA finally broke through when substitute midfielder Aly Wagner played a perfect pass into the path of Lilly, who was running into the right side of the penalty area. Lilly cut back hard inside with her right foot, losing Canadian defender Randee Hermus, and then slid to drill her left-footed shot from 14 yards into the left side of the net past diving Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod.

It was the third goal of the Peace Queen Cup for Lilly and the 116th of her career. Lilly won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player while U.S. forward Natasha Kai was awarded the Bronze Ball as the third MVP. Lilly also won the Silver Boot as the tournament’s second leading scorer behind Canadian Christine Sinclair, who scored six goals in competition, but could not find the net against the USA.

Neither team consistently produced dangerous chances as the ball was in the air for much of the game. Both countries battled hard for first and second balls, but the USA did have an advantage in possession and out-shot Canada, 10-8.

The USA played without leading scorer Abby Wambach, who sprained her ankle in the previous match against the Netherlands. It was the first match Wambach has ever missed due to injury, spanning her high school, college, WUSA and national team career. Wambach should be healed and ready for qualifying. With Wambach out, U.S. head coach Greg Ryan started a front line of Lilly, Kai and Lindsay Tarpley, while Angela Hucles got the nod at attacking midfielder in the 4-3-3 formation.

Sinclair played a solid game for Canada, but her playmaking was more dangerous than her dribbling or shooting as she got teammates into dangerous spots on several occasions with her passing. In the 6th minute, she popped behind the U.S. defense on the right and served a hard cross on the ground, but Kate Markgraf cut it off and cleared.

Canada dropped back into a 4-5-1 when on defense and made it very difficult for the USA to play the ball through the midfield, but the Americans still managed to create a handful of chances in the first half.

In the 27th minute, Lilly got behind the Canadian backs on the left side after slipping through the offside trap, but as she cut toward the net, there were no U.S. players in the penalty box to receive her pass.

One minute later, midfielder Carli Lloyd got her foot on a free kick that bounced around in the penalty box, but McLeod made a great reaction save with her leg from close range. Three minutes before the end of the half, Leslie Osborne slipped a short pass to the cutting Tarpley in the left side of the penalty area. She had a sliver of space to shoot, but her shot was blocked by a sliding defender.

Osborne, who played another phenomenal match for the USA in the defensive midfield slot, was one of the best U.S. performers in the tournament.

The USA did much better pulling apart the Canadian defense in the second half, and the first chance after the break came in the 51st minute when defender Lori Chalupny collected a clearance off a corner kick at the top of the penalty box, took a touch to her right and fired a shot that drew a diving save from McLeod.

Two minutes later, Kai got behind the Canadian defense straight up the middle with a good first touch off a long ball, but she didn’t get enough power on her shot and it rolled to McLeod from the top of the penalty area.

The USA had a scare in the 64th minute as Sinclair briefly burst free down the right flank. U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo came rushing out, then tried to hold her ground, and ended up losing her footing. Fortunately for the USA, Sinclair’s shot was weak and Solo was able to recover and grab it.

One minute before Lilly got the winner, she set up Kai for what was almost a spectacular goal as her cross from the right side was sent on net by the Hawaiian with a nifty back-heel flick from inside the six-yard box. McLeod made a great save, snagging the shot with a quick dive to her right.

Canada made several substitutions to try to get an equalizer, pushing hard in the final 10 minutes. In the 84th minute, the USA had to scramble to clear away a Canada flurry in front of the net and then, one minute later, Solo had to come out and bravely grab a long Canada service, paying for it with a knock on the leg by the crashing Melanie Booth, who played a fine game for Canada on the left flank.

The USA held off Canada’s final surge by clearing everything, anywhere, during the three minutes of second half stoppage time. The win marked the USA’s fifth consecutive shutout against Canada, including a 2-0 win earlier this year in Cary, N.C. The Peace Queen Cup title was the USA’s second tournament championship of the year after also winning the Four Nations Tournament in China last January.

Lilly’s game-winning goal was her 12th of 2006, tying her second-best ever scoring year for the USA over her 19-year international career. She scored 12 in 1995 and 20 in 1999.

The USA will return to training in mid-November at The Home Depot Center to prepare for the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup with matches on Nov. 22 and 26, which will be the final two games of the year for the team. The USA is 16-0-4 in 2006 heading into Women’s World Cup qualifying