That was the only goal of the first half and the break gave the grounds crew a chance to shovel water off the field. The rain also began to let up as the night wore on, making the second half less treacherous.

But not less exciting.

The Americans were eight minutes away from escaping with the win when Canada’s Jordyn Huitema — at 5-foot-11, the tallest player on her team — went high to head in an Ashley Lawrence cross for the game-tying goal, sending the game to extra time.

The U.S. went ahead again in the first overtime period when Smith, taking advantage of another poor decision from Giles, ran on to a header from Rose Lavelle before beating Sheridan cleanly.

But Canada rallied again to tie the score, this time on a penalty kick seven minutes into stoppage time after Naeher was called for the foul after colliding with Giles in front of the goal.

García appeared ready to let play continue before she was urged to consult a video replay. That led her to award a penalty that Canada’s Adriana Leon converted for her tournament-best sixth goal, deflating a U.S. team that had the game won twice.

“It’s really hard in that moment to regroup mentally, emotionally and just come together,” Naeher said. “[But] there was never a moment of ‘sorry us.’ ”

Especially not for Naeher, who guessed right on three of Canada’s four tries in the four-round penalty shootout. When she came out of the locker room, the tote bag slung over her right shoulder contained the game ball.

“I think someone grabbed it for me,” she said with a smile.

For Kilgore, meanwhile, what Wednesday’s performance lacked in form and finesse was more than made up for by her team’s heart and resiliency.

“The game is played under all sorts of conditions all over the world. And today, our conditions happen to be a ton of rain, and standing water on the field,” she said. “You’ve got to find a way to get it done. And it takes a certain mentality to do that.

“These moments are actually really critical to building towards major events. Sometimes it just, it takes a grind, it takes a mentality. And we did that today.”

In the first semifinal, played on a relatively dry field, Brazil won its spot in Sunday’s final by handing Mexico its first loss in 24 games under coach Pedro López. The goals in the 3-0 win came from Adriana Leal, Antonia and Yasmin.

“I’m really excited to play them,” Horan said afterward. “But I’m also excited to play a game of football.”

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