FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The United States had just two minutes left to avoid its first loss ever in CONCACAF Gold Cup group play.

Haiti was heading for its first win over an American team since May 1969, when it won 1-0 in San Diego.

Then Stuart Holden stepped up.

The Houston Dynamo midfielder sent a 25-foot shot past goalkeeper Jean Dominique Zephirin into the upper right corner in the first minute of second-half injury time, giving the United States a 2-2 tie last night in its final first-round game.

"We were pushing the whole second half," said Holden, who also assisted on Davy Arnaud's goal in the sixth minute. "We kept knocking on the door and the chance fell to me."

The Americans, seeking their third straight title in the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean, finished first in Group B and will play El Salvador or the third-place team in Group C next Saturday in Philadelphia. The United States (2-0-1), which already had clinched advancement, improved to 23-0-2 in Gold Cup group play.

The United States once again started a young lineup, with goalkeeper Luis Robles, and midfielders Sam Cronin and Colin Clark making their first international appearances. So did 32-year-old defender Jay Heaps, a member of the New England Revolution and veteran of 301 MLS games.

Six of the starting 11 made their first national team starts, with those four joined by forward Arnaud and defender Brad Evans.

"The experience of today will be something that they can draw from" the rest of the tournament, U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "You use these three games to gain experience. You use these three games to get confident. We use some of the things that happened today as reminders."

Trailing 2-1, the U.S. inserted Charlie Davies in the 73rd minute and Kamehameha Schools alum and Hale'iwa native Brian Ching in the 76th.

"When you begin the tournament, the goal is to win your group and advance," Bradley said. "So the first thing that we said after the game is, 'We've accomplished that goal.' "

Haiti (1-1-1) finished third in the group round and also advanced. The two best of the three third-place teams move on.

Haiti had taken the lead with goals in the first four minutes of the second half by Sirin Vaniel and Mones Chery.

"What an irony," Haiti coach Jairo Rios said. "The poorest country in the world against what could be considered the superpower of the world and they (the Haitians) could be able to hold themselves on the field, demonstrating the real passion for the game from the players."

HONDURAS 4, GRENADA 0

Walter Martinez scored in the second minute, and Honduras routed Grenada last night in the second game of a doubleheader for a berth in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals.

Honduras, which finished second in Group B to the United States, will play Group A winner Canada next Saturday in Philadelphia. The Americans will meet El Salvador or the third-place team in Group C.

Honduras (2-1) had an easy time with Grenada, which was outscored 10-0 in losing all three of its games.