On Saturday, April 4th, the USWNT played New Zealand in a friendly match in front of a crowd of 35,817 at the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, Busch Stadium, in St. Louis, MO. The match ended in a 4-0 victory for the women who placed first at the Algarve Cup a little under a month ago. The first goal came at the 14th minute from U.S. defender, Meghan Klingenberg, off a half-volleyed strike from just outside the penalty box after New Zealand attempted to clear an Ali Krieger cross. The 1-0 lead stood at the half after the U.S. controlled the possession and play, but failed to finish a ton of scoring chances. In the second half, the U.S. cracked their lead wide open in a 6 minute span beginning with a curling shot from 16 yards out by defender, Lori Chalupny in the 76th minute. Two minutes later Julie Johnston headed home a Lauren Holiday free kick to put the U.S. up 3-0. Then in the 81st minute after helping to create a New Zealand turnover, Morgan Brian knocked in a through ball from Sydney Leroux into the lower left corner of the net putting away the match for the U.S.
The match was a very impressive effort for the USWNT. At the Algarve it seemed they improved with each game, but were still lacking in making that final pass to create scoring opportunities. This time the scoring chances were there. The only thing missing was the actual scoring. A few shots in the friendly went off the crossbar, post, or missed the net entirely. In particular the finishing from Alex Morgan wasn’t there. It seems she still isn’t back to to her reliable form from the injury she incurred a few months ago. She’s getting there though, believe me. I have no doubt by June she’ll be finishing those chances.
Another note from the friendly was that surprisingly until Morgan Brian scored, the goals came from the U.S. defensive core. Props to the defense on scoring the goals and joining the attack in a game where they weren’t challenged much on the defensive end. It’s good to know the U.S. can get scoring from just about anyone on the pitch.
Megan Rapinoe played in her 100th cap and looked fantastic while doing it. She was endlessly creating on the left side and was a part of some great combination play with Klingenberg and Morgan (in general the combination play was the best I’ve seen from the U.S. women). One of the best missed scoring chances was off of a perfectly placed Megan Rapinoe bending cross that landed for a volley at the feet of Amy Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s shot went off the post, but had she put that away it would have been world class.
For the USWNT, everything finally looks to be coming together. The team is almost there. When they do reach their peak, it’ll hopefully be as planned. The send off series begins next month with three friendly matches before the Women’s World Cup begins in June. This week USWNT Head Coach, Jill Ellis, will be notifying the 23 players who made the world cup roster. The World Cup hype is about to get more real than ever and the pressure is surely mounting for the red, white, and blue. As the pieces fall into place though, this team finally looks like the group that will scratch, claw, compete, and leave it all on the table for that third star.
The Spentertainic Source 