Soccer: U.S. Women score twice in each half to defeat Canada 4-0

TORONTO, Canada (May 25, 2009) – The U.S. Women’s National Team scored twice in each half, getting goals from four different players to defeat Canada 4-0 in front of 10,255 fans at BMO Field. It was the USA’s first match in Canada since 2001.

Midfielder Shannon Boxx opened the scoring just 93 seconds into the match and midfielder Megan Rapinoe added a second just before the halftime. The USA put two more in the net during a four-minute span late in the game. Both second-half goals came from substitutes, as Lindsay Tarpley scored her 30th career goal in the 77th minute and 21-year-old Lauren Cheney knocked in a fantastic header in the 80th minute.

The USA dominated possession in a match played on the artificial surface at BMO Field and put together some excellent attacking soccer while out-shooting its northern neighbor by a 19-6 margin.

“I am happy about the performance and I am happy that we scored a goal on a corner kick,” said U.S. WNT head coach Pia Sundhage. “That’s something we are starting to work on and I believe that come 2011, when the games are so tight, that set plays will be very, very important. So, four nice goals and a pretty good game on turf.”

Boxx’s strike, which was the USA’s first shot of the game, was her second goal of the year after scoring just once in 2008 and it came against her club teammate on the Los Angeles Sol in Canadian goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc. It was also Boxx’s 20th international goal as she became the 16th female player in U.S. history to score 20 or more goals in her career.

The goal was created on the USA’s first piece of possession as right back Heather Mitts played a penetrating pass forward to Boxx from the right side of the field. Boxx dribbled hard toward the edge of the penalty area, and when no Canadian defender stepped up to challenge, unleashed a 20-yard shot from 10 yards right of the penalty arc that skidded into the lower left side netting.

Canada’s only good chance of the first half came in the 43rd minute on a long free kick from Kara Lang, but the shot flew wide right of Hope Solo’s goal.

The USA got a huge score just seconds before the halftime whistle after Heather O’Reilly fed Rapinoe above the penalty area on the left side. Rapinoe collected and dribbled toward her defender before cutting hard inside, losing Canadian back Brittany Timko. The nifty dribble created a sliver of space for her bending 16-yard shot that actually curved around Abby Wambach and her defender, who were screening LeBlanc, and then spun perfectly into the lower right corner. It was Rapinoe’s fourth international goal in just nine career caps.

The USA struggled to find its rhythm early in the second half as Canada picked up the pressure, but settled down and regained control before putting the match away in the 77th minute after Wambach earned a corner kick on the right side. It was Wambach who jumped over two defenders to get a head on the ball, sending it powerfully toward goal. The ball hit Canadian captain Christine Sinclair near the goal line, but Tarpley pounced on the loose ball to force it over the line and into the open net.

Wambach, who came into the match with 99 goals, will now have the chance to bag her historic 100th goal in her hometown of Rochester, N.Y., where the USA will play Canada in its next match on July 19. Canadian forward Christine Sinclair, who also came into the game with 99 goals, failed to hit the century mark as the U.S. defense did a fine job of keeping the star striker out of dangerous positions.

The final goal came after O’Reilly ran down a long pass on the right flank and struck a hard cross from the wing that deflected off a Canadian defender’s foot, but it had enough steam on it to sail towards the near post. Cheney was making a hard near post run and deftly re-directed the ball with a superbly angled header into the upper right corner from about five yards outside the post. It was Cheney’s fourth international goal in 17 career caps.

Amy LePeilbet got the start in the center defense with team captain Christie Rampone and played an excellent first half in her first cap since Sept. 13, 2006. She was replaced at halftime by Rachel Buehler, who also played an extremely solid 45 minutes, highlighted by a thunderous tackle on Canadian Melissa Tancredi in the waning minutes.

Canada’s best chance of the second half came in the 54th minute as the USA lost a ball in the back, but the Maple Leafs couldn’t capitalize as Jodi-Ann Robinson launched her shot over the goal from 25 yards out.

Besides the header off the corner kick that led to Tarpley’s goal, Wambach didn’t get too many clear chances for her 100th goal, but she did take a good swipe at a loose ball in the 62nd minute that fell close to her after a long free kick.

The USA hit a flurry of shots in the second half, highlighted by an O’Reilly blast from the top of the penalty area on the right side, but couldn’t bust through until Tarpley’s 77th minute score effectively put the game away.

U.S. goalkeepers Solo and Nicole Barnhart split the match, with Solo hitting some booming punts in the first half that caused some danger for the Canadian backline. Barnhart had a bit more to do in the second half in tidying up her penalty area, but was not forced to make a save.

Eighteen-year-old midfielder Christine Nairn became the first member of the USA’s 2008 U-20 Women’s World Cup championship team to earn a senior team cap, coming on for Angela Hucles in the 83rd minute. Nairn was the eighth player to be given her first cap by U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage.

The U.S. players now head back to join their WPS clubs and will not come together again until mid-July for two more matches against Canada, on Sunday, July 19, at Rochester Rhinos Stadium in Rochester, N.Y., and then again three days later on Wednesday, July 22, at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C. These will be the USA’s first domestic matches of the year after playing the first five on the road and compiling a record of 4-0-1.

The game in Rochester kicks off at 3 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on ESPN. The match in Charleston kicks off at 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español. Both matches will be available online via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker.

(via press release)

Coaching updates for U.S. women’s teams

December 15, 2008 – U.S. Soccer has re-signed Pia Sundhage as head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team for four more years. When Sundhage, 48, was hired in November of 2007 she was guaranteed only nine months of employment. Since then, she has led the USA to a record setting 32 wins in 2008 (32-1-2), which includes the team’s memorable run to the Olympic title, culminating in the victory against Brazil in Beijing, China.

Originally brought in after the ouster of Greg Ryan, Sundhage bonded well with the team and helped them accomplish something never before done in U.S. history – rebound from a loss in the first game to earn the Olympic gold medal.

A long-time club and international coach, and one of the world’s legendary players, Sundhage is the sixth head coach in U.S. history. Sundhage captained the Swedish National Team for many years, playing 146 international games while scoring 71 goals. She debuted for Sweden at age 15 in 1975 against Finland and ended her 22-year international career at the 1996 Olympics in a win over Denmark.  She also helped Sweden to two silver medal finishes and one bronze at the European Women’s Championships.

With a new contract set, Sundhage will gather the players in late January for the first camp of 2009 with an eye on selecting a roster for the Algarve Cup in March. Keeping Sundhage is a great move on the part of US Soccer.

In other coaching news, Hugh McCutcheon has accepted the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team Head Coach position.  Less than four months after leading the U.S. Men’s Olympic Volleyball Team to a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, McCutcheon will lead the U.S. Women’s National Team for four-year period leading up to the 2012 London Games.

The U.S. Women’s National Team enjoyed remarkable success at the 2008 Olympic Games under head coach “Jenny” Lang Ping, who elected not to seek a contract renewal. USA Volleyball Chief Executive Officer Doug Beal notes this is not an uncommon situation in international or professional volleyball for coaches to move from one gender to the other.

“Successful coaches are successful coaches,” Beal said. “I have every confidence that Hugh can learn the differences that surely exist between genders and apply his philosophy to our women’s team in a positive way.”

The thirty-nine year old McCutcheon is married to 2004 U.S. Olympic volleyball player Elisabeth “Wiz” Bachman, whose parents were victims of an attack in Beijing in August. His father-in-law, Todd Bachman, was killed in a random knife attack by a Chinese man.

McCutcheon returned to the bench and led the U.S. men to their first Olympic medal since 1992. McCutcheon had a record of 107-33 in four years coaching the men and the team enjoyed one of its best seasons ever in 2008 under his guidance winning all three major tournaments of the year. 

It will be interesting to see how a great coach like McCutcheon adjusts to the women’s game.

Kristine Lilly back in the saddle for final matches of the year

December 10, 2008 – U.S. legend Kristine Lilly trained with the U.S. National Team today for the first time since October of 2007. The only woman in history to play in five Women’s World Cup tournaments took most of 2008 off to have her first child, a baby girl, who was born last June.

The Women’s National Soccer Team is back together for the last stops of its post-Olympic Achieve Your Gold tour.  They start a week-long training camp today at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

The team started its historic year in China at the Four Nations Tournament, capped its run of five tournament titles this year at the Olympics in China, and will now end the year against China with matches at The HDC on Dec. 13 and in Detroit at Ford Field on Dec. 17.

The current USA roster includes 22 players, but injuries and illness have reduced the number of players available to head coach Pia Sundhage.

Forward Natasha Kai, the USA’s leading scorer this year with 15 goals, will miss the trip due to illness. Forward Lauren Cheney will also not join the team due to the battering her body took during the just completed college season as well as her preparation for final exams at UCLA. Midfielder Aly Wagner and defender Stephanie Cox are with the U.S. team in camp, but injuries to a calf and hamstring respectively have ruled them out of the matches.

So why is Kristine Lilly, who is now a mother and the oldest member of the U.S. team, returning to competition at age 37? Lilly will suit up with the Boston Breakers this spring in the debut season of the new U.S. women’s pro soccer league, Women’s Professional Soccer. She resumed soccer training in September and expects to play a strong role in the upcoming games against China. If she continues to play, Lilly will be 40 when the next World Cup takes place in 2011 and 41 at the 2012 London Olympics. Obviously this lady loves the game.

WNT nuggets from this historic year:
The USA set a record for most wins in a year in the 24-year history of the program and is now 31-1-2.

The only loss was in the opening game of the 2008 Olympics, from which the U.S. team famously rebounded to win the gold medal.

If the team wins or ties the two games against China, it will also set a record for best winning percentage in a year that it played more than 10 matches.

Golden Girls: USA Women’s Soccer

August 21, 2008 – USA soccer clinched the gold medal today in Beijing, as Carli Lloyd scored the game-winner in 1-0 overtime thriller against Brazil.

By most accounts goalkeeper Hope Solo, who made six saves to earn the shutout victory, was the star of the game but let’s not forget the other 17 members of the team who all contributed whether on the field or on the bench. This was USA’s third gold medal since women’s soccer was added in 1996.

Hopefully injured striker Amy Wambach, as well as Leslie Osborne and Cat Whitehill who are out with ACL tears, were able to celebrate some of that much-deserved glory.

Source: US Soccer

Ouch: Early upset for U.S. Soccer Team in Beijing

August 6, 2008 – Surprising results in the first round of games as women’s soccer got underway two days before the Olympic Games officially open.

Norway scored twice in the first five minutes against the U.S. and won the opening game 2-0; The loss was just the second-ever for the U.S. women in the Olympics, with the only other loss also coming to Norway in the 2000 Olympic Final in Sydney, Australia. A disappointing start for sure.

Japan went 2-0 down but fought back in the last 20 minutes to make it a 2-2 draw against New Zealand; and Germany and Brazil held each other to a 0-0 draw.

Group E:
China 2-1 Sweden
Canada 2-1 Argentina

Group F:
Germany 0-0 Brazil
North Korea 1-0 Nigeria

Group G:
Norway 2-0 US
Japan 2-2 New Zealand

The next matches will be played Saturday August 9th:

Sweden v. Argentina
Nigeria v. Germany
US v. Japan

Canada v. China
Brazil v. North Korea
New Zealand v. Norway

Girls Kick Grass: Olympic play set to begin

August 5, 2008 – As the media machine has undoubtedly made you aware, the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing will take place on August 8, 2008.  For women’s soccer fans, however, the Games commence Wednesday when first-round group-play action kicks off.

With all eyes on Beijing, there’s plenty being written about the Golden Girls – the U.S. Team.  The WNT opens defense of its Olympic title against Norway, the only other country to win a gold medal in the sport.

Here’s a roundup of what’s being said going into the Games (in no particular order): 

Women’s Football Kicks Off Beijing Olympics - VOA preview of the Olympic Games.

Swedish coach sings U.S. soccer back to contention  – Learn how Coach Pia Sundhage motivates the U.S. Women’s National Team.

U.S. should have the edge over Norway - ESPN’s pre-game analysis.

Lindsay Tarpley blog - WNT member updates fans with Tarpley’s Thoughts.

Amy Rodriguez is ‘A-Rod’ of U.S. soccer – LA Times profiles local girl Amy Rodriguez.

Chinese women’s soccer looking for Olympic rebirth - Can China dominate in front of a hometown crowd?

Women’s Soccer Olympic Overview - ESPN looks at how the top teams stack up.

Round One:

Argentina vs. Canada
China vs. Sweden
Germany vs. Brazil
DPRK vs. Nigeria
Japan vs. New Zealand
Norway vs. USA

OMG – Abby Wambach to miss Olympics with broken leg

July 17, 2008 - It started out a friendly soccer game Wednesday night between the U.S. Women’s National Team and Brazil. It was their second match this week, and final meeting before heading off to Beijing for the Summer Games.

With only 32 minutes played, team forward and former Gator star Abby Wambach – the crux of the U.S. offense – rushed to try to reach a ball defended by Brazilian player Maria Rosa.  And with the ensuing collision she suffered a midshaft oblique fracture on both her tibia and fibula.

This sucks on so many levels but most importantly: Wambach has a broken leg and will miss the Olympics! A year ago, the star forward broke her right big toe in the final game before the 2007 World Cup in China. Seems like Wambach should really sit out these tune-up games.

The U.S. beat Brazil 1-0 with Tasha Kai’s lone score but that’s little consolation.

Wambach is a great player known for scoring goals who seemed destined to be one of the stars of the Beijing Olympics. With 99 international goals to her name, she was eager to  reach her landmark hundredth goal. Looks like that goal will have to be put on hold - at least for the 12 weeks she’ll be sidelined after her surgery. 

It’s a crushing blow to Wambach and the United States’ women’s soccer team – especially with the recent losses of Cat Whitehill and Leslie Osborne to ACL injuries.

Current coach Pia Sundhage certainly has her work cut out for her when the U.S. begins their defense of the Olympic Gold medal on Aug. 6 against Norway. Oh, Abby – you’ll be missed.

U.S. Olympic soccer squad named

June 24, 2008 – U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Pia Sundhage has named the 18-player roster for the 2008 Olympic Team. Sundhage made her final selections after the USA’s 1-0 victory over Canada in the 2008 Peace Queen Cup championship game on June 21 in Suwon, South Korea.

Nine players on the roster were members of the U.S. team that won the gold medal four years ago in Athens, Greece, including team co-captains Christie Rampone and Kate Markgraf, who will both be participating in their third Olympic Games.

The U.S. will open play at the 2008 Olympics on Aug. 6 against Norway. The U.S. will then face Japan on Aug. 9 before finishing Group G play against New Zealand on Aug. 12.

To see the roster and short bios of the players, go to ussoccer.com

Soccer: U.S. women edge Brazil at Peace Queen Cup

June 17, 2008 – USC soon-to-be-senior Amy Rodriguez scored the only goal late in the first half as the United States women’s national team edged Brazil, 1-0, in the Peace Queen Cup on Tuesday.

The United States, which beat Australia in its first match 2-1, leads Group B. The U.S. plays winless Italy in its final group game on Thursday and a win or a tie will earn the Americans a berth in the championship game.

This was the first meeting between the United States and Brazil since the 2007 FIFA Womens World Cup semifinal, a 4-0 Brazil win.

It was also the first of three games the U.S. will play against Brazil before the 2008 Olympics. The two teams will also meet on July 13 at Dicks Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. and then again on July 16 at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego.

In the other Group B game, Australia defeated Italy, 3-0, as Heather Garriock scored twice within a minute in the middle of the second half and Amy Chapman added a goal two minutes from the end of the game.

In Group A, the Kiwis soared to an historic victory over Argentina. It is the first win by the New Zealand national side over a team outside the Oceania Football Confederation in 15 years and, followed by some similar performances in Beijing, will go a long way to silencing critics who have challenged their Olympic selection.

Road to Beijing traveled by Pia not Mia

June 11, 2008 – The U.S. Women’s National Team has a slew of games scheduled this summer to get ready for Olympic competition. Among other things, Coach Pia Sundhage needs to get her team focused on specific strategies to help prepare them against a diverse group of opponents. There may be new faces, but the team has the same goal. Win gold at the Olympics.

The new school (Rachel Buehler, Amy Rodriguez, Lauren Cheney and Tobin Heath) is learning to learn to play seamlessly in the team’s lineup and the back line still needs some tweaking. Heather Mitts is back in training following her knee injury last year.

Drawn into Group G, the USA will face Norway, Japan and New Zealand during first round play in Beijing. “I’m very excited about the challenge of the draw overall,” said Sundhage in a U.S. Soccer press release. “It’s good to know who we will be facing in the Olympics…We have many things to work on, but the preparation schedule is excellent.”

The U.S. team has played well against Norway, recently defeating them 4-0 in the Algarve Cup, and 4-1 in the 2007 World Cup third place game. Japan will be difficult to pin down — they’re quick and very technical on attack. New Zealand has a new head coach and an up-and-coming squad so they may be a wild card.

The reigning World Cup champion Germany, and World Cup runner-up Brazil were drawn together against North Korea and Nigeria in Group F.  The top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals. They are joined by the two best third-placed teams.

Sundhage recently selected a streamlined roster to travel to the Peace Queen Cup in South Korea, held in mid-June. The tournament will have the U.S. facing off against 13th-ranked Italy, and Australia for the third time in two months. As for the third group match against Brazil, the U.S. ladies will finally have the chance to redeem themselves in the most anticipated game of the year against Marta and Co.

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