At the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, the young players of the National Women’s Football Team of Costa Rica were able to do what their male counterparts failed to do at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup a couple of nights ago: score a victory over the Canadian National Team.

According to staff reporter Laura Armstrong of the Toronto Star, the Canadian National Team was shorthanded a few star players for this match, including the starting goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe, who is sitting out a red card, and two veteran players who had academic obligations at their university abroad.

Star striker Shirley Cruz, one of today’s most successful and respected female footballers, opened the scoreboard. She was followed by veteran player Karla Villalobos. The Costa Rican National Team is fielding a squad that mixes veterans who played in the recent 2015 FIFA World Cup, which was also hosted in Canada, with younger and less-experienced players.

Even without their star goalkeeper and two key veterans, the Canadian team was able to contain the offensive by Costa Rica. In the second half, however, Las Ticas had already found weak spots in Canada’s defense; Shirley Cruz was able to shake off her marking defenders to score on a corner kick as she advanced to score from the top of the box unchallenged.

Karla Villalobos took the pitch as a substitute in the last quarter of the match after the coaching decision to park the bus against desperate attacks by the Canadian players proved to be too risky. Even after Villalobos scored the second goal for Costa Rica, Canada’s offense did not relent; a last-minute shot-on-goal hit the crossbar and landed very dangerously near the goal line, thus forcing star goalkeeper Dinnia Díaz to hustle and dive after the loose ball.

Las Ticas still have a chance to make a run for the gold medal, even after their painful defeat at the hands of Brazil by a score of 0 – 3. Next up: the National Women’s Football Team of Ecuador.