GUATEMALA CITY -- Valerie Sanderson and Elissa Neff scored three minutes apart in the first half to spark Canada to a 4-0 victory over Jamaica on Friday at the CONCACAF Under-17 Womens Championship. The defending-champion Canadians improved to six points atop Group A, three ahead of Jamaica in second. Canada became the first team to advance to the knockout round when Panama routed Guatemala 7-1 in the second game of Fridays doubleheader. Sanderson and Neff gave Canada a two-goal lead by the 22nd minute, Summer Clarke scored her fourth goal in two games in the 56th and Nichelle Prince added one with the last touch of the match in the 94th. Goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan earned the clean sheet in Canadas sixth shutout in 12 games at the CONCACAF U-17 womens finals and second in three days after beating Panama 6-0 on Wednesday in its opener. Canada will finish its group play against host Guatemala on Sunday. The four goals gave Canada 10 for the tournament, three more than it scored in five matches in winning the title two years ago in Costa Rica. MONTREAL -- Davis Cup captain Martin Laurendeau is confident that Canada will beat Ecuador even without its top two singles players, Milos Raonic and Frank Dancevic. Both will sit out the Americas Zone Group 1 series in Guayaquil, Ecuador, with injuries. On Thursday, Tennis Canada announced Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., underwent successful hip surgery Tuesday in Vail, Colo., and is expected to make a full recovery. The sports governing body in this country added Raonic is already riding a stationary bike and is expected to resume hitting a ball in about six weeks. Laurendeau feels Canada has enough depth to beat a modest Ecuadorean team that will be without its long-standing star brothers Nicolas and Giovanni Lapentti "Its two young teams and its a great chance for our young guys to step up," Laurendeau said Thursday. The first match Friday has Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., against Ivan Endara followed by Vancouvers Philip Bester facing Julio Cesar Campozano. Saturdays doubles match has veteran Daniel Nestor of Toronto and Pospisil against Roberto Quiroz and Emilio Gomez. The two sides switch singles opponents for the fourth and fifth matches Sunday. It is the second round of Group 1 play. Canada defeated Mexico 4-1 in March, when Raonic went 2-0 in singles and won the doubles with Pospisil. The winner will advance to the prestigious World Group next year, along with the winner of a series pitting Brazil against Urruguay.dddddddddddd Raonic, who suffered the hip injury at Wimbledon, would have been the only player in the series ranked in the top-100 in the world at No. 26. Dancevic is ranked 146th. But Canadas players are still much higher-ranked than Ecuadors, with Pospisil 191st, Bester 229th and Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont., 259th. Campozano is 384th, Endara 497th, Quiroz 875th and Gomez 909th in singles. However, rankings often go out the window when national teams are involved. "I see it as a difficult tie," added Laurendeau. "Its always tough in South America. Its on slow clay. Its tough weather with a tough crowd." It will help to have the veteran Nestor, one of the worlds top doubles players who has long experience playing before hostile crowds in the Davis Cup. "I appreciate everything he does for us," said Laurendeau. "Hes the French Open champion and never misses a chance to play for us." Laurendeau said Canada has been improving on clay in recent years, as its victories over Peru and Mexico in the past two years have shown. Ecuador beat Canada two years ago on hardcourts in Toronto, but that was with the Lapentti brothers winning at singles. This weekend also has quarter-final action in the World Group, with Serbia travelling to Sweden, Kazakhstan facing Argentina in Buenas Aires, Spain against the U.S. in Austin, Texas, and France playing Germany in Stuttgart. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '