UNO News Net: WOMEN SOCCER OLYMPIC QUALIFYING: United States got tickets to London 2012 with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The United States earned its fifth straight trip to the Olympics, beating Costa Rica 2-0 Friday night in the semifinals of CONCACAF women's qualifying.

Goals by Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan provided the smallest margin of victory for the United States in the tournament, having won three previous games by a combined 31-0.

The three-time and defending Olympic champion Americans earned the first of two berths from CONCACAF, with the other to be decided in the second semifinal between Mexico and Canada.

It was the eighth victory for the Americans in eight meetings against the Ticas, but it matched the closest the Costa Ricans had come to the United States in 11½ years of matches. Twice before Costa Rica had lost 3-0 to the United States - in 2008 and 2010.

Heath gave the United States the lead in the 17th, Lloyd scored her sixth goal to add the insurance in the 72nd and Morgan completed the tally in the 89th.

Costa Rica started brightly with high pressure that disrupted the United States' possession in the first half. It hit the bar midway through the first half, but appeared to fatigue in the second half, when the Americans repeatedly threatened the Ticas goal.

Heath scored her second of the tournament and fifth in her international career when Lauren Cheney curled a corner kick to the far post. Abby Wambach bounced a header that keeper Erika Miranda palmed away but right to Heath, who headed it in.

Miranda was one of five changes Costa Rica coach Karla Aleman made to her starting lineup from Monday's match against Canada. Besides getting Katherine Alvarado back from her concussion suffered in the group stage and Daniela Cruz from a knee injury, Miranda replaced Julieth Arias, who had played the first three matches but allowed a howler in the loss to Canada.

The United States had the better of play in the remainder of the first half, but Costa Rica had its chances. U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo had to race off her line to the top her penalty area to block a sprinting Raquel Rodriguez in the 25th, and Cruz unleashed a 35-meter effort that struck the intersection of the post and crossbar in the 27th.

The Americans, however, began to dominate in the second half, generating four corner kicks in the first 14 minutes.

They doubled the lead when Wambach was able to break in alone on Miranda and attempted to chip a ball over her. Miranda was just able to get a hand to it and Cruz was able to clear off the line. But the ball went to Lloyd, who shot from the top of the area past a scrambling Costa Rica defense.

Morgan, who replaced Heath in the 63rd capitalized on a clearly tiring Costa Rica defense, beating both Wendy Acosta and Carol Sanchez to the byline, turning inside and flicking past Miranda.

The United States, which had only two shots on goal by the 27th minute, outshot Costa Rica 21-7 in the final tally and continued its streak of being the only team from CONCACAF to play in every Olympics since women's soccer was introduced in 1996.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — In the end, what matters is that the U.S. women’s soccer team is going to the Olympics. What the players won’t soon forget is how hard they had to work get there.

The Americans booked their way to London on Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament, a game more suspenseful than most anyone expected.

- United States’ Abby Wambach, center, crashes into Costa Rica goalkeeper Erika Miranda, left, during the first half of CONCACAF women’s Olympic qualifying soccer game action at B.C. Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012.

.Tobin Heath scored in the 16th minute to give U.S. all the scoring it needed, and goals by Carli Lloyd (72nd) and Alex Morgan (89th) put the game away late.

But the top-ranked Americans were less crisp than when they were beating teams by a combined 31-0 earlier in the tournament and drawing criticism for running up the score.

Costa Rica is ranked No. 41 in the world, has never qualified for an Olympics or a World Cup and has never scored on the U.S. in eight meetings. Las Ticas proved to be scrappy opponents, however, occasionally frustrating the Americans with physical play and just missing on two solid scoring chances in the first half in the London-or-bust match. As the possibility of an upset lingered deep into the second half, the underdogs gained the rousing support of the Canadian fans at BC Place.

In the end, a speedy, unflappable quartet of American defenders — Kelley O’Hara, Rachel Buehler, Christie Rampone and Amy LePeilbet — combined with goalkeeper Hope Solo to keep Costa Rica out of the net. Solo played despite a slightly pulled right quadriceps that had been bothering her all week.

The U.S. will be the two-time defending champions in London, having taken gold in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008. It will be the third straight Olympics in which the Americans will be trying to make amends for World Cup disappointment from the previous year. They finished second at last year’s World Cup in Germany, losing to Japan in the final.

The victory also puts the Americans into the tournament final Sunday, a bragging-rights-only game against the winner of Friday’s late game between Mexico and Canada.

The Americans had scored so easily in the tournament that it seemed odd to see the game scoreless until the 16th minute, when a set piece produced the first goal. Lauren Cheney’s corner kick was headed down at the far post by Shannon Boxx. Goalkeeper Erika Miranda made the save but deflected the ball to Heath, whose looping header was her fifth career U.S. national team goal.

Costa Rica, outscored 34-0 in the seven previous games against the U.S., nearly tied the game after a giveaway by Buehler set up Fernanda Barrantes with a clean look from 15 yards in the 20th minute, forcing Solo to the ground to make the save.

Then, in the 27th, Carol Sanchez launched a 30-yarder that clanged off the frame at the intersection of the post and the crossbar. With Solo on the ground, Buehler fought off Barrantes to keep the striker from getting the rebound with a clean shot at an open net.

Costa Rica finally had its hopes deflated in the 72nd, when Abby Wambach’s chip shot was cleared off the line by Daniela Cruz and out to Lloyd, whose left-footer from the top of the 18-yard box doubled the lead.

Morgan, a second-half substitute, chipped in the insurance goal shortly before the final whistle.

Even with the closer-than-expected result, the Americans have evoked the good old days at this tournament with their mostly lopsided scores. While that’s hardly surprising given the slow development of women’s soccer in parts of North and Central American and the Caribbean, it’s also indicative the U.S. still have the deepest, most talented team in the world.

But Pia Sundhage’s team arrived in Canada with a bit of apprehension. The Americans, having become somewhat complacent from years of uncontested success in the region, were stunned in a World Cup qualifier by host Mexico in November 2010, forcing them into a home-and-away playoff with Italy just to get for the World Cup. Also, the format for Olympic qualifying is such that everything hinges on one game — the do-or-die semifinals — regardless of how a team performs in the rest of the tournament.

Determined to take nothing for granted, the Americans have been full throttle for every game. They set a U.S. team record for goals in a game in a 14-0 win over the Dominican Republic, then nearly matched the feat in a 13-0 rout of Guatemala. Then came a 4-0 win a much anticipated rematch with Mexico to set up the semifinal against Costa Rica.