MIAMI, Florida – League C of the 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League kicked off on Thursday with a pair of games, beginning with a 6-0 win in Group A for Saint Martin over Anguilla at the Raymond E. Guishard Stadium in The Valley, Anguilla.
No doubt the star of the show was Axel Raga, who banged in four goals for the visitors. Raga scored the 2023-24 CNL’s first goal in the 6’ when he received a pass, made a slick cutback and finished for a 1-0 lead.
Stanley Segarel doubled the lead to 2-0 in the 25’ with a right-footed finish, before Raga scored three straight goals, redirecting in a ball in the 32’, slotting home a right-footed shot in the 38’ and then a tidy near-post finish in the 40’ to give Saint Martin a commanding 5-0 lead at halftime.
The visitors then put things on cruise control in the second half, adding another goal to complete the 6-0 scoreline in the 70’ when Romuald Lacazette headed in off a corner kick.
The nightcap in League C was a scintillating Group B battle between US Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands at the Bethlehem Soccer Complex in Upper Bethlehem on Saint Croix, ending in a 2-2 draw between the sides.
Cayman Islands opened the scoring in the 16’ with a class strike from Jonah Ebanks, who took a free kick from outside the left corner of the area and fired into the top left corner of net for a 1-0 lead.
USVI pulled level 1-1 when a loose ball pinballing right in front of the Cayman Islands goal was turned into net by Raejae Joseph.
USVI then took a 2-1 lead into the halftime break, as Jimson St-Louis scored in the 42’ on a right-footed shot after the Cayman Islands defense were unable to clear their lines.
Cayman Islands struck right back after halftime, levelling things at 2-2 in the 47’ on a smart second header from Cameron Gray from just a few yards out.
From there, neither side could carve out a winner, resulting in a share of the spoils.
