Wright State's Persaud Leads Guyana to First Gold Cup Appearance

Brittany Persaud, a junior midfielder on the Wright State women's soccer team, will compete for the CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Women's Gold Cup later this year as part of the Guyana National Team.

Persaud (Westerville, OH/North) played in six games overall for Guyana, scoring two goals. She scored the first goal in a 2-0 win over Suriname on March 5 and then tallied the go-ahead goal in the 44th minute against Cuba on July 3 as the team won 3-1 to advance to the Gold Cup.

Guyana qualified for the Gold Cup for the first time ever in 2010, defeating Suriname and St. Vincent/Grenadines in the Caribbean Phase First Round, Barbados and St. Lucia in the Caribbean Phase Second Round and then defeated Cuba 3-2 on aggregate in the two-leg Caribbean playoff.

The Gold Cup, which is set for late October and early November, will include national teams from the United States, Canada and Mexico along with Guyana, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala and Costa Rica. It is a qualifying competition for the 2011 World Cup, which will be held in Germany June 26-July 17. The two finalists will automatically qualify for the World Cup, while the third-place team will face a European nation for another berth.

"I'm very proud of Brittany and all that she has accomplished," said Wright State head coach Pat Ferguson. "She is a great representative for our program, athletic department and university. This is an indication of where we've come as a program. We wish her luck in the Gold Cup."

Persaud played in all 20 games for the Raiders last fall after transferring from Dayton, scoring five goals and collecting three assists. As a youth player, she was a member of the US National Pool.

The Raiders finished 2009 at 11-7-2 overall and 6-2 in the Horizon League. Ferguson, who enters his sixth campaign at WSU, has guided the Raiders to at least 10 wins in each of his first five seasons at the helm.

Courtesy of WSU Sports Information