Updated Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 06:36 PM
VANCOUVER, B.C. — In the end, what matters is that the U.S. women's soccer team is going to this year's Olympics. What the players won't soon forget is how hard they had to work to get there.
The Americans booked their way to London on Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament, a match more suspenseful than most expected.
Hope Solo, a former Washington Huskies standout from Richland, posted her fourth shutout in four tournament matches.
Solo, who had to make seven saves against Costa Rica, played despite a pulled right quadriceps that had been bothering her all week.
The United States will play Canada in the final at 5 p.m. Sunday at BC Place.
Canada earned an Olympic berth by defeating Mexico 3-1 in the second semifinal match before a crowd of 22,954.
The U.S. team qualified for its fifth consecutive Olympics; it won the gold in 1996, 2004 and 2008.
Tobin Heath scored in the 16th minute to give the United States all the scoring it needed, and goals by Carli Lloyd (72nd) and Alex Morgan (89th) put the match away late.
But the top-ranked Americans were less crisp than when they were beating teams by a combined 31-0 earlier in the tournament and drawing some criticism for running up the score.
"When you play games that matter, everybody's a little bit nervous. ... We gave away the ball way too often," U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said.
Costa Rica is ranked No. 41 in the world, has never qualified for an Olympics or a World Cup and has not scored on the U.S. team in eight matches. Las Ticas proved to be scrappy opponents, though, frustrating the Americans with physical play and just missing on two solid scoring chances in the first half in the London-or-bust match.
As the possibility of an upset lingered deep into the second half, the underdogs gained the rousing support of the crowd.
"We put together three great games in group play," Solo said. "You can't play four, five, six. Not every team is going to play perfectly every single game, but we got the job done."
In the 27th minute, Costa Rica's Carol Sanchez launched a 30-yard shot that clanged off the frame at the intersection of the post and the crossbar.
With Solo on the ground, U.S. defender Rachel Buehler fought off Costa Rica's Fernanda Barrantes to keep the striker from getting the rebound with a clean shot at the net.
JONATHAN HAYWARD / AP
U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo, an ex-Washington Huskies player, prepares to launch the ball in Friday's match.
