The U.S. under-21 women’s national team beat Finland, 5-0, in the Nordic Cup in Bamberg, Germany, to win Group B and earn a berth in the final opposite Group A winner Germany. Penn State star Christie Welsh scored two goals, her first of the tournament. “Christie is a pure goalscorer,” U.S. coach Jillian Ellis said. “I knew it was only a matter of time before she buried a few chances.” North Carolina’s Jena Kluegel, Nandi Pryce, who will play for Ellis at UCLA this fall, and Stanford’s Marcia Wallace rounded out the scoring. The United States came into the match with four points from a win over Switzerland and a tie with Sweden and needed to win the match to win the group. A tie or a loss with Finland would have put the U-21s into the third-place match. “I told them that we needed nothing less than a win, and they responded from the opening whistle,” Ellis said. “We played some dynamic soccer and scored some tremendous goals. Our speed of play was better than in the first two games and we definitely showed better composure with our finishing.” The United States finished the game with nine players: Mary-Frances Monroe was ejected and Aleisha Cramer left the game with an ankle injury after the U-21s used all five substitutions. Monroe, who plays at the University of Connecticut, started at forward but picked up two yellow cards, in the 10th minute and in the 44th minute, and a subsequent red for handling the ball. The red card means that Monroe won’t play in the Aug. 3 final, depending on the U.S. team’s appeal to the tournament’s disciplinary committee, which meets the morning of Aug. 2. “We showed great mentality and resolve when we went down players to not only earn a shutout, but also score a goal,” added Ellis. “Still, the victory was bittersweet because of losing Mary to the red card But if we have to play without her in the final, I know the players will respond.” Finland’s Salla Ranta, who played the whole match, is Monroe’s teammate at UConn. Nordic Cup Aug. 1 in Bamberg, Germany United States 5 Finland 0. Goals: Welsh 9, 12, Kluegel 28, Pryce 42, Wallis 82. USA — Branam, Kraus (Borgman, 57), Pryce, Reddick, French, Cramer, Wagner (Zepeda, 65), Kluegel (Wallis, 57), Welsh (Patrick, 46), Monroe, Bush (Putz, 63). Finland — Peltonen, Vaelma (Eskelinen, 46), Kaaranen (Saario, 55), Ahlroos, Silander, Kalmari (Tuominen, 46), Mattila, Ranta, Simonen, Sarapaa (Lindqvist, 46), Lehtimaki (Lindstrom, 61). Ref.: Rebbeka Kirchner (Germany). Att.: 150. 2000 Nordic Cup Final Standings Group A
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | P |
| Germany | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 7 |
| Norway | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 4 |
| Iceland | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 3 |
| Denmark | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 11 | -8 | 3 |
Group B | Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | P |
| USA | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 7 |
| Finland | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 6 |
| Sweden | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Switzerland | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -6 | 0 |
Results July 28 Norway 4, Denmark 0 Germany 3, Iceland 1 Finland 1, Sweden 0 USA 4, Switzerland 0
July 30 Iceland 2, Norway 1 Germany 6, Denmark 0 Finland 1, Switzerland 0 USA 2, Sweden 2
Aug. 1 Denmark 3, Iceland 1 Germany 2, Norway 2 Sweden 1, Switzerland 0 USA 5, Finland 0
Aug. 3 Denmark vs. Switzerland — 7th-Place Match Iceland vs. Sweden — 5th-Place Match Norway vs. Finland — 3rd-Place Match Germany vs. USA — Championship
