USWNT Past Canada to Gold Cup Final

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Alyssa Naeher saved three penalty attempts and made one herself as the United States beat Canada in a shootout to earn a hard-fought win at rain-soaked Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Wednesday night to set up a showdown with Brazil in the Concacaf W Gold Cup final.

Heavy rains before kickoff left the field covered in standing water, making the movement of the ball -- if it rolled at all -- extremely unpredictable in the semifinal meeting of the two North American soccer rivals, who traded goals in regular time and then extra time as the match ended 2-2 ahead of the shootout.

The game began despite the conditions, and Jaedyn Shaw took advantage of a back pass by the Canada defense that stopped short of goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan because of the waterlogged surface to open the scoring for the U.S. in the 20th minute.

With the goal, Shaw became the first U.S. player to score in each of her first four starts, and also brought her total number of goals scored at the W Gold Cup to four.

Although the conditions on the field were a slight improvement from the first half, neither team was able to mount any kind of organized attack on goal after the break until Canada's Ashley Lawrence picked up a ball on the right flank and floated in a perfect cross that Jordyn Huitema headed past Naeher to send the game to extra time.

But Naeher collided with Vanessa Gilles toward the end of extra time and, after a look at the pitchside monitor, the referee awarded Canada a penalty, which Adriana Leon converted to send the game to a shootout.

Smith, Lindsey Horan and Naeher all converted their spot kicks, and when Naeher saved her third, it sealed a 3-1 shootout win for the Americans.

The U.S. now plays Brazil, which beat Mexico 3-0 earlier on Wednesday, in the final on Sunday at Snapdragon Stadium.

South Dakota Born NFL Players of this Century

While not a traditional powerhouse Nation Football League feeder, South Dakota has produces a fair number of football players that went on to the big time in the NFL.

Here are some that have played on various teams over the last couple of decades.