The 2025/26 Concacaf W Qualifiers continued its Group B action on Tuesday at Saint Lucia’s iconic Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in Gros Islet, where two Caribbean underdogs—Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda—battled to an action-packed 1-1 draw that ended lengthy losing skids for both national women’s sides. After more than an hour of tight, physical defense that kept both offenses off the scoreboard, Dominica’s young forward Trinity Esprit made history in the 63rd minute, breaking the deadlock with a clinical close-range shot inside the box to put her nation up 1-0.
The game remained locked in that scoreline deep into stoppage time, until Antigua and Barbuda earned a penalty in the 87th minute. Forward Kai Jacobs stepped up to the spot, cooly slotting the ball into the bottom right corner to level the score and secure a share of the points for her side.
The result marks the end of Antigua and Barbuda’s 2025/26 qualifying campaign, wrapping up their run with a 0 win, 1 draw, and 3 loss record that leaves them sitting in fourth place in the five-team Group B standings. For Dominica, the draw lifts them to a 0-1-2 record so far in the tournament, and the side will look to climb out of the current fifth-place spot when they travel to face Nicaragua this coming Saturday.
Beyond the final score, the match delivered multiple historic milestones for both teams and players. For Esprit, Tuesday’s strike was her first career goal in Concacaf W Qualifying history, and she becomes just the fourth different player to score for Dominica in a drawn qualifying match. She follows Sheena Bazil and Cassandra Delsol, who each found the net in a 2-2 draw with Grenada back in May 2006, and Romelcia Phillip, who scored in a 1-1 draw against Grenada in May 2018. This draw is also Dominica’s third drawn result all-time in Concacaf W qualifying, and it snapped two negative streaks for the side: a three-match losing run in qualifying and a three-match scoreless drought. Even with the positive result, Dominica extends its current winless run to four consecutive matches, with one draw and three losses in that stretch.
For Jacobs, her equalizer carried its own historical weight. The penalty goal was Jacobs’ fourth career goal in Concacaf W Qualifying, and her first goal in the 2025/26 edition of the tournament. She previously notched one goal against Cuba in 2010, and two more in 2022 against Anguilla and Suriname respectively. This marks only the second time Jacobs has scored in a qualifying match and seen her team avoid defeat, following a 1-0 win over Anguilla in April 2022. The draw also ended Antigua and Barbuda’s own four-match losing streak in qualifying, though it extends their current winless run to five consecutive outings (one draw, four losses).
This 1-1 result is just the second drawn match in Antigua and Barbuda’s qualifying history, coming 20 years after a 0-0 draw with Barbados in March 2006. Statistically, the result also marks the 20th all-time defeat for Antigua and Barbuda in Concacaf W Qualifying, bringing their all-time tournament record to 31 matches played, 9 wins, 2 draws, 20 losses, 22 goals scored, and 99 goals conceded across their history in the competition.