The U.S. U-23 national team finished the first round of Olympic qualifying with three wins in which it outscored its opponents 10-6.

Having already clinched a semifinal spot with wins over Panama (4-3) and Canada (2-0), the Americans beat Honduras, 4-3, on Saturday to clinch first place in Group A. That sets up a semifinal with host Mexico Tuesday Feb. 10 (9 pm ET, closed-circuit TV). The semifinal winner earns a spot in next summer's Olympics in Greece.

Mexico finished second in Group B after a tie with Costa Rica, which had a superior goal difference.

Against Honduras, the Americans played with 10 men for an hour after defender Jose Luis Burciaga was ejected for a hand ball that denied Honduras a scoring chance.

The U.S. began the game with six starters — goalkeeper D.J. Countess, defender Chad Marshall, midfielders DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey and Brad Davis and forward Landon Donvoan — on the bench. Honduras played the game without five of its key players — leading scorer Emil Martinez (3 goals), captain/defender Sergio Mendoza, goalkeeper Doni Escobar, playmaker Alex Andino and forward Jerry Palacios.

Alecko Eskandarian scored the first of his three goals for the USA on a 28th-minute free kick. The Hondurans equalized on the penalty kick from Burciaga's handball before goals by Kyle Beckerman and Eskandarian put the Americans up, 4-1, with 20 minutes left.

Another penalty kick by Maradiaga — this time for a handball by Logan Pause — and a goal by Samir Arzu, who exploited a bad touch by midfielder Brian Carroll, pulled the Hondurans within one.

Defenders Nat Borchers and Chris Wingert started and played all 90 minutes for the third consecutive match, making them the only two players on the U.S. team who have played all 270 minutes so far.

''We knew it could be a strange affair, which it was,'' U.S. coach Glenn Myernick said. ''As you saw, I don't think Honduras was in a hurry to try to win the game. But the things that we said to our players is that we really only know how to play one way and that's to win.

''We knew that with a draw, we were still going to play Mexico, so why not win the group and be the only team in the tournament that got nine points and scored the most goals. There's nothing wrong with that.''

Feb. 7 in Guadalajara

USA 4 Honduras 3.

Goals: Eskandarian 28, 58, 70, Beckerman 47; Maradiaga pen. 30, pen. 72, Arzu 77.

USA — Doug Warren, Wingert, Burciaga, Borchers, Stokes, Beckerman (Pause, 60), Carroll, Lewis, Gaven, Eskandarian, Testo.

Honduras — Bodden, Figueroa (Martinez, 80), Medina, Thomas (Castro, 46), Posas, Laing, Berrios, Arzu, Maradiaga, Solis (Bernardez, 75), Brook.

Yellow cards: USA — Pause 71; Honduras — Medina 69.

Red card: USA — Burciaga 29.

Referee: Gilberto Alcala (MEX)

Att.: 500.

CONCACAF Qualifying Results

GROUP A
Feb. 7 in Guadalajara
Panama 2 (Garces 13, Miranda 75) Canada 1 (Friend 20)
USA 4 (Eskandarian 28, 58, 70, Beckerman 47) Honduras 3 (Maradiaga pen. 30, pen. 72, Arzu 77).
Att.: 500.

Group A Standings
USA 9 pts., Honduras 6, Panama 3, Canada 0

GROUP B
Feb. 6
Trinidad & Tobago 2 (Sealey 5, Spann, pen. 86) Jamaica 1 (Kelly 75)
Mexico 1 (Perez 11) Costa Rica 1 (Diaz 7)
Att.: 50,000.

Group B Standings
Costa Rica 7 pts., (+7 goals), Mexico 7 (+6), Trinidad & Tobago 3, Jamaica 0.

CONCACAF Qualifying Schedule

(All games in Guadalajara, Mexico; all times are ET.)

SEMIFINALS
(Stadio Jalisco)
Feb. 10
*Costa Rica-Honduras, 6:30 pm
*USA-Mexico, 9 pm

*THIRD-PLACE GAME
(Stadio Jalisco)
Feb. 12, 6:30 pm

*FINAL
(Stadio Jalisco)
Feb. 12, 9 pm

* Shown live on closed-circuit.