Alex Morgan’s goal clinches the U.S. women’s soccer team’s ticket to the 2024 Olympics

The U.S. women’s soccer team sealed qualification for the 2024 Olympics by winning Concacaf’s championship tournament late Monday night, edging perennial rival Canada, 1-0.

Alex Morgan scored the goal with a 78th-minute penalty kick, giving the Americans their first win over their northern neighbors since Canada’s historic triumph at last year’s Olympics.

The U.S. came out flying, registering four shots in the first 15 minutes — including a superb sweeping move that ended with Morgan firing just wide. Canada had its share too, with Nichelle Prince beating Sofia Huerta repeatedly and narrowly missing a chip in the 17th.

Mallory Pugh provided another highlight in the 31st when she sprinted nearly half the length of the field with the ball, leaving Canada’s back line in the dust, only to be thwarted by a brilliant Kailen Sheridan save.

Then Sophia Smith came closest of all, stuffed twice on the goal line by Sheridan as second-half stoppage time began after a superb Huerta cross.

At halftime, the U.S. had a 10-3 advantage in total shots, 4-2 in shots on target.

The Americans kept coming. Morgan sprung Smith in the 64th, and she got around Sheridan but shockingly lost her footing and shot wide. Rose Lavelle smashed a 20-yard shot right at Sheridan in the 66th.

Ten minutes later, when the U.S. shots edge was 15-5, the breakthrough finally came. Allysha Chapman caught Lavelle in the box, and a penalty kick immediately was called. After the cameras focused on Morgan’s ice-cool stare at the ball, she sent Sheridan the wrong way and drilled a low shot to the corner of the net.

“Alex is a big player, and big players are born for big moments,” U.S. manager Vlatko Andonovski said.

He added that he spoke with Morgan before the game to ask if she’d be ready to step up against Sheridan, a teammate with the NWSL’s San Diego Wave. The answer came back as forcefully as that shot.

“She wanted to take it, and her answer was with confidence, which gave me confidence as well,” Andonovski said.

» READ MORE: Alex Morgan came to World Cup and Olympics qualifying ready to remind the world what she’s got

Oddly, Andonovski waited until the game’s final minutes to make any substitutions, and the moves were delayed even more by a lack of a stoppage of play. Finally, in the 89th minute, three new players came in: Midge Purce for Smith, Trinity Rodman for Pugh, and Naomi Girma for Morgan as some extra defensive help. Taylor Kornieck then replaced Lavelle in stoppage time.

Canada threw everything it could into finding an equalizer, and caused some nervy moments for the U.S. in the final seconds. But Alyssa Naeher made the last of her four saves on the game’s final play, sealing the victory and punching the Americans’ ticket to Paris 2024.

The U.S. already had qualified for the 2023 World Cup by winning its group in the Concacaf tournament. Canada, Costa Rica, and Jamaica also booked trips to Australia and New Zealand next year, and Haiti and Panama qualified for the intercontinental playoffs.

Either Canada or Jamaica will join the Americans at the Olympics, after playing a home-and-home playoff late next year.

» READ MORE: Naomi Girma is a name to know for the U.S. women’s soccer team’s future, and its present