WASHINGTON -- Haiti breathed new life into their Gold Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Grenada at RFK Stadium on Wednesday night, as goals from Fabrice Noel and James Marcelin carried les Grenadiers past the Spice Boyz in a Group B encounter.

Noel converted from a free kick in the 14th minute. Brunel Fucien whipped an inswinging cross toward a crowd in the penalty area, where the ball appeared to strike the back of Noel and dribbled into the goal.

"We had a mentality to come out and win the game," coach Jairo Rios said. "We couldn't wait for anything to happen, we had to make it happen."

With 12 minutes left, Haiti found the clincher when Marcelin capitalized on a howling mistake by Grenada captain Anthony Modeste. With a ball sent behind the defense, Modeste looked prime to clear the ball, but amazingly walked over it, leaving Marcelin to close unmarked on goal and easily beat goalkeeper Desmond Noel.

"Marcelin is very important in his position on the field. I feel that Marcelin is one of the best, if not the best, midfielder in this cup," Rios said. "He and Jean-Marc Alexandre, his counterpart, I feel that they play incredibly great in the midfield. With him hopefully ready for the United States, we'll be able to come out and give it a great game."

The result revived Haiti's hopes and left Gold Cup debutante Grenada with no points after two games.

Grenadian midfielder Patrick Modeste tested Jean Dominique Zephirin with a well-driven shot toward the upper corner eight minutes after kickoff, but Haiti netminder flung himself left to parry the effort wide.

Haiti was nearly gifted a goal two minutes later when Spice Boyz defender Jason James deflected a cross toward his own net, wrongfooting Noel, but he recovered in time to collect the loose ball at his right post.

Haiti was enjoying superior possession when Marcelin asserted himself in the center of the park and they came close to doubling its advantage in the 28th minute.
Grenada's Noel couldn't hold a shot from Raymond Ednerson, knocking the ball toward Haiti's Noel deep in the penalty area - but defender Anthony Modeste intervened to clear the danger just in time.

Grenada used a quick counterattack to carve out their best chance of the half six minutes before the intermission. Holding midfielder Ricky Charles exposed the Haitian defense with a delicate lofted cross to Delroy Facey at the far post, but the striker looped his shot well over the target from close range.

"I think he took it with his wrong foot at the time. But it's a split second decision he has to make and he's made it, and it's gone over the top of the crossbar," Grenada coach Tommy Taylor said. "We started the game and we put ourselves on the back foot after 16 minutes because of the way we gifted them a goal, and then we were chasing a goal. There was still plenty of time in the game to do things - we had enough of the ball to pass it, but we gave too many balls away, which is what we've been doing a lot of."

In the second half, Haiti hunted for a valuable second tally while Grenada looked for the equalizer needed to keep their fading tournament hopes alive. Yet both sides struggled to craft sustained passing sequences as the Spice Boyz resorted to hopeful long balls and Haiti lacked sharpness in the attacking third.

Leonel Saint Preux should have added to Haiti's lead on a venture deep into the Grenada box in the 58th minute. Floating into ample space near the penalty spot, Saint Preux was set up by strike partner Noel but dribbled his shot well wide of the left post.

RFK Stadium was gradually filling up with blue-clad Honduras fans eager for the second half of the doubleheader against the United States and their noise percolated around the venerable facility as time ticked away on Grenada's hopes.

Chasing down an angled ball into the Haitian box, Facey got a good look at goal but with the ball on his left foot, he elected to play a centering pass that went begging with no gold jerseys on hand.

Panamanian referee Roberto Moreno's full-time whistle handed Haiti their first Gold Cup victory since 2002 and gave Jairo Rios' side renewed hopes for a quarterfinal berth, while Grenada's second loss of the tournament virtually eliminated it contention with one match remaining.

Source: goldcup.org