With the largest home crowd in New Zealand Women’s football history watching, the United States capitalized on faster ball movement and came out victorious after 90 minutes plus extra time. Starters Trinity Rodman, Ashley Sanchez and Sofia Huerta who all came off the bench in Tuesday’s game, created key moments for their team to score.
The opening goal Friday night, which came in the 22nd minute, started in the backline with Crystal Dunn. She connected with Sanchez for a quick flip to Rodman who then made a delicately timed diagonal pass to Washington Spirit teammate Ashley Hatch. Another goal came just before halftime when Huerta sent a ball into the box for Rose Lavelle and the captain found the back of the net. The first half saw the American side with a better tempo and style of attack. They maintained 73% possession and were finding the right seams to expose their opponents.
Mallory Swanson, Lavelle, and Taylor Kornieck would add three final goals for the U.S. Swanson pressured the entirety of the match and now has three goals in just two games bringing her total goals in her national team career to 28. The team collectively had 10 shots on target from 22 attempts. After the match, Dunn said, “I think it was a great performance from the girls. I think we started off strong…Just the way we played, we put out a really top performance today.”
As January camp comes to an end and the women look ahead to this year’s World Cup, there are many bright spots to highlight. Lynn Williams has returned from injury and already contributed a goal and an assist. Dunn continues to work on her fitness and make tactical plays on the ball. Young star, Rodman, can practically do it all as a dual threat attacker. 2022 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, Sophia Smith, should be healthy and a key component in offense.
The national team will return to action next month for the eighth annual She Believes Cup. The Americans have won five of the last seven and will look for their third consecutive trophy.
