July 24, 2009

CHICAGO - Former Maryland standout Clarence Goodson scored the game-winning goal as the U.S. Men's National Team advanced to the CONCACAF Gold Cup final with a 2-0 victory against Honduras on Thursday night at Soldier Field in Chicago.

It was the first international goal for Goodson, a center back who played with the Terps for three seasons from 2000-2003. His header in the first half from the edge of the six yard box helped the U.S. to its third consecutive Gold Cup final and its seventh overall. Goodson becomes the 10th goal scorer in the tournament for a balanced U.S. squad.

Fellow former Terrapin Robbie Rogers was also very active in the match, nearly tallying an assist early in the contest, but Brian Ching's header went just wide of the left post.

Both Goodson and Rogers started the match and each tallied their fifth career cap. The U.S. will be searching for their third straight regional championship on Sunday, July 26 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. against Mexico.

Sunday's match, which begins at 3 p.m., will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel, Univision and the Futbol de Primera Radio Networks. Fans can also follow the game live on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker and at twitter.com/ussoccer.