US Women Back On Course With Olympic Thrashing Of New Zealand

After a stunning loss in their opening match, the U.S. Women’s National Team bounced back with an impressive and dominating 6-1 victory against New Zealand in Group G play of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at Saitama Stadium. The U.S. got goals from midfielder Rose Lavelle, midfielder Lindsey Horan, forward Christen Press and forward Alex Morgan while also forcing two own goals from New Zealand to put itself in position to advance to the quarterfinals.

The U.S. finishes group play on Tuesday, July 27 against Australia with that quarterfinal spot on the line. With Sweden’s 4-2 victory over Australia in the first Group G match of the day, the USA now sits in second place with three points – the same as Australia – but with a better overall goal difference (plus-2 to Australia’s minus-1), which is the first tiebreaker. Sweden (6 points) is in the driver’s seat and has already secured its spot in the knockout round, but the USA will finish second in the group with a win or a tie in the group finale. The top two teams from each group as well as the top-two third place teams advance to the knockout stages.

Rose to the occasion pic.twitter.com/bHIo6r2C3O

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 24, 2021

The USA could still potentially get through to knockout rounds even with a loss, via one of two third-place berths to the quarterfinals.

The crucial final game in Group G kicks off at 3 a.m. ET from Kashima Soccer Stadium in Kashima, Japan, on USA Network, Telemundo, NBCOlympics.com and Telemundo Deportes App.

Playing with pace and a crispness that was absent in the first game, the USA controlled the match over the 90 minutes and Lavelle gave the USA an early lead that they would never relinquish in just the ninth minute. The goal was Lavelle’s first in the Olympic Games.

The U.S. was in control the rest of the first half and Carli Lloyd, Heath, Megan Rapinoe and Horan all appeared to have scored for the USA with goals during the run of play, but all four were correctly disallowed for offside in the build-up.

Despite the Americans controlling the match, three minutes before halftime, forward Hannah Wilkinson created a quality opportunity for New Zealand. The forward was able to slip behind the U.S. backline and get on the end of a well-placed service from midfield, but her header was inches wide of the right post. It would prove to be the Kiwis best chance of the game outside of their goal.

Less than a minute later, Horan got her goal off a corner kick. The goal was Horan’s first ever in the Olympic Games and she became the seventh USWNT player to score during her 100th cap.

In the second half, the U.S. scored its third off a New Zealand own goal. The Football Ferns pulled one back in the 72nd minute after a misplay in defense, but the Americans would score three more times to pump up its goal difference heading into the Australia match.

The U.S. slammed the door shut with goals from second-half substitutes Press in the 80th minute and Morgan in the 87th minute, and another own goal by New Zealand in extra time provided the sixth and final goal of the night.

The goal for Press was her first in Olympic play while Morgan’s was her sixth in the Olympic games.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 14-Emily Sonnett, 17-Abby Dahlkemper, 12-Tierna Davidson, 2-Crystal Dunn (20-Casey Krueger, 84); 16-Rose Lavelle (3-Samantha Mewis, 67), 8-Julie Ertz, 9-Lindsey Horan (19-Catarina Macario, 84); 7-Tobin Heath, 10-Carli Lloyd (13-Alex Morgan, 74), 15-Megan Rapinoe (Capt.) (11-Christen Press, 68)
Substitutes not used: 22-Jane Campbell, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn
Head coach: Vlatko Andonovski 

NZL: 18-Anna Leat; 4-Catherine Bott, 5-Meikayla Moore, 7-Ali Riley (Capt.), 8-Abby Erceg; 2-Ria Percival, 12-Betsy Hassett, 14-Katie Bowen, 15-Daisy Cleverley (9-Gabrielle Rennie, 80); 11-Olivia Chance (13-Paige Satchell, 65), 17-Hannah Wilkinson
Substitutes not used: 1-Erin Naylor, 3-Anna Green, 6-Claudia Bunge, 10-Annalie Longo, 16-Emma Rolston
Head coach: Tom Sermanni 

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