Jordan Morris scored in the 88th minute on Wednesday night to propel the U.S. Men’s National Team to a 2-1 victory over Jamaica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

USMNT Jamaica Gold Cup Final SCORES

The 22-year-old Seattle Sounders forward netted after taking an assist from Clint Dempsey. Gyasi Zardes raced down the right sideline and crossed into the middle of the box, where the ball was only partially cleared. Dempsey managed to knock it down with his heel — following a Jamaican defender’s header deflection — right into the path of an onrushing Morris, who fired a shot through a crowd of Jamaican defenders and into goalkeeper Dwayne Miller’s top right corner. Morris also scored in the U.S.’s final group stage victory against Martinique. 

Two minutes before that goal, a free-kick from Dempsey bounced off the Jamaica wall and deflected off Morris in the box. The ball then fell to Matt Besler, who fired a shot that Miller saved.

The U.S. has now won six Gold Cup titles: only Mexico has won the tournament more times (seven), while Canada has won once. The game also marked the second straight time Jamaica finished as runner-up in the Gold Cup, after the country lost to Mexico in the 2015 tournament.

The Americans’ captain Michael Bradley won the Golden Boot despite playing only three of the six games.

The U.S. dominated possession for most of the match (73 percent, according to ESPN). Bradley was fouled about 30 yards from goal just before halftime after a nice buildup through midfield. On the ensuing free-kick in the 45th minute, Jozy Altidore curled  fantastic shot over Jamaica’s wall and inside Miller’s top left corner to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead at the break. The goal marked Altidore’s 39th career international goal, fourth all-time in the Gold Cup and third against Jamaica.

Jamaica equalized four minutes after halftime when the visitors capitalized on a dead ball situation after earning a corner kick. On that play, Kemar Lawrence fired a perfect strike to the back post, and Je-Vaughn Watson beat Morris to connect with a volley and make it 1-1.

Tim Howard made two saves for the U.S. to earn his 61st victory.

Manager Bruce Arena is now the only head coach to lead the USMNT to three Gold Cup titles, having previously guided the Americans to trophies in 2002 and 2005. Arena’s all-time record against Jamaica is 6-0-5.

The USA is 15-2-8 all-time vs. Jamaica and 12-1-3 at home.

The Americans next play Costa Rica at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey on Sept. 1 for the first game of the final round of 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying, and then travel to face Honduras on Sept. 5 before playing Panama and Trinidad & Tobago in October.

SANTA CLARA, CA – JULY 26: #8 Jordan Morris of the United States celebrates scoring a goal against the Jamaica during the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final at Levi’s Stadium on July 26, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Jordan Morris proved to be the savior of the U.S. Men’s National Team on Wednesday night, as he scored two goals to lift the Americans to a 3-2 victory over Martinique in their second CONCACAF Gold Cup group-stage game in Tampa, Florida.

U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team Gold Cup

“It’s all about team, all about the three points,” Morris, 22, said after the Americans improved to 31-1-4 during the Gold Cup group stage. The U.S. leads Group B with four points after tying 1-1 with Panama in its tournament opener, and next faces Nicaragua in Cleveland on Saturday. Panama is second in Group B and also has four points after beating Nicaragua 2-1 on Wednesday.

After a scoreless first half that included several close chances for the U.S., Omar Gonazlez put the hosts ahead in the 53rd minute. A low corner kick from Kellyn Acosta was batted out by a defender, and Paul Arriola attempted to convert on the deflection with a shot from just outside the box but his effort was blocked by Martinique goalkeeper Kevin Olimpia. Gonzalez poked in the rebound from about four yards for his second international goal.

Gonzalez praised Martinique for their performance, and said his team needed to play smarter and concentrate more until the final whistle.

“They didn’t stop running, didn’t stop playing,” said the 28-year-old defender, who plays for Mexican club Pachuca. “We need to be smarter, more focused throughout the entire game.”

Morris made it 2-0 just over ten minutes later. Second-half substitute Alejandro Bedoya — who came on for Acosta — fed Eric Lichag, who bolted down the right sideline and crossed to Morris. The Seattle Sounders forward one-timed a shot from the near post for his third international goal.

Martinique tied it 2-2 with goals from Kevin Parsemain in the 66th and 74th minutes. Parsemain first fired a shot through traffic from just outside the top of the box to beat goalie Brad Guzan, and then knocked in a rebound of teammate Johan Audel’s close-range shot that also deflected off Audel.

Less than two minutes after Parsemain’s second score, Morris sealed the victory for the U.S. by taking a ground cross from Gyasi Zardes from the left side of the box and one-timing a shot from near the penalty spot into the top-right corner.

“Morris put the U.S. up again 3-2 vs. #MTQ with this goal! #GoldCup2017,” Univision Deportes tweeted.

The narrowly missed scoring opportunities for the U.S. in the first half included a cross from Zardes to Morris just over two minutes in that flew wide of the left post, and a low header Morris took in the eleventh minute that also soared too wide left.

Martinique nearly scored the opening goal in the 33rd minute when Parsemain fired a low shot from inside the box that passed Guzan but hit the right post. The visitors also had two opportunities in the final minutes of the first half: a corner-kick header that went wide of Guzan’s right post, and then a long-range shot from Parsemain from the left that the goalkeeper caught.

“We’re certainly guilty of making the game a lot more difficult on us than it needed to be,” said U.S. coach Bruce Arena, who added that he still believed his team played well.

Arena made eight lineup changes in total on Wednesday. In addition, midfielder Christian Roldan made his U.S. national team debut and defender Justin Morrow his first international appearance in over four years. Lichaj had not played for the U.S. since May 2016.

The Americans are 5-0-5 since Arena took over for Jurgen Klinsmann last November.

The U.S. and Martinique had only played once before, in the group stage of the 2003 Gold Cup. The Americans won that game 2-0.

Martinique — a tiny island that is a French overseas department and has a population of 385,000 people — is not eligible for World Cup qualifying or other FIFA tournaments.

“A lot of pleasure from this game. Too bad that we got scored on right after coming back,” Martinique coach Jean-Marc Civault said through a translator. “Honestly, the U.S. was superior in keeping the ball, but I’m very proud of my players’ performance.”

TAMPA, FL – JULY 12: Jordan Morris #8 of the United States brings the ball up past Daniel Herelle #19 of Martinique during the first half of the CONCACAF Group B match at Raymond James Stadium on July 12, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

The Seattle Sounders nearly lost to the worst team in the MLS Western Conference Wednesday Night in Houston. Seattle ended up scoring in the last minute of stoppage-time to sneak out with a 1-1 draw.

Seattle Sounders vs. Houston 1-1 Draw In Stoppage-Time After Controversial No-Goal

Dynamo midfielder, Andrew Wenger, gave Houston the lead in the 75th minute putting the Dynamo up 1-0. In the 84th minute the Sounders thought they scored to tie when midfielder Alvaro Fernandez hit a cross to forward Jordan Morris who was crashing towards the Houston goal.

Fernandez’s pass was deflected off Dynamo defender Raul Rodriguez and rolled past goalkeeper Joe Willis and what seemingly looked like it crossed the line into Houston’s goal. Willis reached back to scoop it out and the assistant referee called it a no-goal.

According to SoundersFC.com Morris said he thought the goal was good, but at game pace the difference was hard to determine by the referee. “Flaco got down the line and put the cross in and I thought it was coming to me, actually, but the guy got a little toe on it and I think it kind of wrong-footed the goalie,” Morris said. “From my angle, it looked like it went over the line. But obviously it was really close, so it’s tough for the AR to make that decision. It’ll be interesting to see on the replay.”

A picture from Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei posted a snapshot of the save on Instagram.

Seattle midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro put away the goal in the last minute of stoppage-time on a pass from defender Joevin Jones to get the draw.

The Seattle Sounders travelled to Houston to play the Dynamo Wednesday without forward Clint Dempsey or centre back Chad Marshall. The game in Houston was the Sounders’ second game of three in eight days. Seattle kicked off the eight days with a win against the Portland Timbers, a team they are one spot behind in the Western Conference standings. The Houston Dynamo are the last place team in the Western Conference at No. 10.

According to the Seattle Times Dempsey and Marshall were being sparred after a tough game on Sunday, Sounders interim coach Brian Schmetzer said.  “Having just played an emotionally and physically challenging match on Sunday, we kept both players back in Seattle as a precautionary measure,” he said. “For us at this stage in the season, every game is a must-win game, and the expectation for the group in Houston tonight doesn’t change no matter who is on the field.”

The Sounders will see the Timbers again on Sunday August 28th in their third game in eight days.

HOUSTON, TX – OCTOBER 18: The starters for the Seattle Sounders FC pose on the field prior to the start of their game against the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium on October 18, 2015 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)