The United States gained a place in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals with a 3-1 victory against Jamaica on Saturday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
Former Chicago Fire midfielder DaMarcus Beasley scored twice to lead the effort. Kansas City Wizards forward Josh Wolff had the other goal for the USA, while Ricardo Fuller scored a late consolation goal for the Reggae Boyz.
Wolff scored after six minutes off a deflected Beasley effort. Beasley's shot was headed towards goal, and Wolff stuck his foot out and deflected the ball into the corner past Donovan Ricketts.
Beasley slotted home in the 42nd minute after a well-judged through ball from the Los Angeles Galaxy's Landon Donovan to double the advantage.
D.C. United's Ben Olsen, a 25th-minute substitute for the injured Steve Cherundolo, was sent off in the 58th minute after he impeded Real Salt Lake's Andy Williams as he charged in alone towards goal.
Seconds later, Kansas City's Khari Stephenson hit the right post with a thunderous drive.
Jermaine Taylor's tackle of Beasley in the 66th minute brought each side back to 10 men.
Beasley scored the third goal in the 83rd minute. Substitute Chris Armas of the Chicago Fire drove his shot at Ricketts, and Beasley finished the close range rebound.
Fuller stripped Greg Vanney of FC Dallas just outside the area in the 88th minute, finishing past Kasey Keller to earn a consolation goal for the Jamaicans.
Beasley won a penalty in stoppage time, but Donovan smashed his effort off the bar.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
CONCACAF GOLD CUP QUARTERFINALS
USA 3, JAMAICA 1
Scoring Summary:
USA - Josh Wolff 6
USA - DaMarcus Beasley 42
USA - DaMarcus Beasley 83
JAM - Ricardo Fuller 88
Lineups:
USA (3-4-3) - Kasey Keller; Greg Vanney, Jimmy Conrad, Oguchi Onyewu; John O'Brien, Pablo Mastroeni, Landon Donovan, Steve Cherundolo (Ben Olsen 25); DaMarcus Beasley, Josh Wolff (Chris Armas 80), Steve Ralston (Santino Quaranta 84)
Jamaica (3-5-2) - Donovan Ricketts; Damion Stewart, Tyrone Marshall, Jermaine Taylor; Robert Scarlett, Jermaine Hue (Garfield Reid 78), Khari Stephenson Andrew Willams, Tyrone Sawyers (Damani Ralph 60); Ricardo Fuller, Luton Shelton (Jermaine Johnson 69)
Misconduct Summary:
USA - Greg Vanney (caution) 7
JAM - Jermaine Hue (caution) 20
JAM - Damion Stewart (caution) 21
USA - Ben Olsen (expulsion) 60
JAM - Jermaine Johnson (expulsion) 66
Referee: Carlos Batres;
Referee's Assistants: Hector Vergara, Arturo Velazquez
4th Official: Jose Pineda
Weather: Sunny, 83 degrees
Attendance: 22,108
