Both teams will enter the match with three points each, but the Stephen Hart-coached Soca Warriors will be ahead in goal-difference after Antigua & Barbuda, the world top ranked CFU team, came from behind to register a last gasp 2-1 win over St Lucia in the first match on Wednesday at the same venue.
W Connection midfielder Kurt Frederick handed St Lucia a 1-0 lead in the 42nd but Keiran Mutajh drew Antigua & Barbuda even in the 66th before Joshua Parker scored the winner two minutes into injury time.
When Cardiff City striker Kenwyne Jones and his fellow Soca Warriors take to the field tonight they will also be seeking to avenge a 2-0 loss to their opponents, suffered in the 2012 finals at the Antigua Recreation Ground.
A win for either team will put them on maximum six points ahead of Sunday’s final round of matches. Antigua and Barbuda will face Dominican Republic from 4pm and T&T will be up against St Lucia from 6.15pm. The top two teams will qualify for the eight-team final in Jamaica from which the top four would advance to next year’s Concacaf Gold Cup.
On Wednesday night, Orlando City striker Kevin Molino got the Soca Warriors off to an astonishing start with two well taken goals from pint-point Lester Peltier right sided centres from which Dominican Republic never recovered.
Molino made it a hattrick in the 25th while capatin Kenwyne Jones (40th, 55th) and Trevin Caesar (77th) combined for the rout.vs Johnathan Fana Frias got Dominican Republic’s consolation in the 88th minute.
Molino side footed home from inside the six-yard box from a Peltier cross after only three minutes and two minutes later he stooped low to head home another decisive centre.
Molino completed his first international hat-trick for T&T by latching on to a long ball from Vancouver Whitecaps defender Carlyle Mitchell, and easily tapping past the former W Connection goalkeeper, Miguel Lloyd to make it 3-0.
That was the last bit of action for Peltier who sustained a leg injury and was replaced by Cordell Cato.
Five minutes before the break, Jones finally converted for T&T to lead 4-0 at the half.
Jones added his second in the 55th while USA-based speedy striker Trevin Caesar, who replaced Molino in the 61st added his name to the list of scorers in the 77th, his first in national colours.
At the end of each group, the top two teams will advance to the eight-team finals in Montego Bay, Jamaica from November 10-18.
Host and five-time champion Jamaica, and defending champion Cuba have already qualified for the finals from which the top four teams would qualify for next year’s Concacaf Gold Cup .
Wednesday’s CFU results
Antigua & Barbuda 2 (Keiran Mutajh 66th, Joshua Parker 92nd) vs St Lucia 1 (Kurt Frederick 42nd)
T&T 6 (Kevin Molino 2nd, 3rd, 25th, Kenwyne Jones 40th, 55th, Trevin Caesar 77th) vs Dominican Republic 1 (Johnathan Fana Frias 88th)
Group 8
Haiti 2 French Guiana 2
Barbados 3 St Kitts/Nevis 2
Group 9
Guadeloupe 3 St Vincent and The Grenadines 1
Martinique 1 Curacao 1