By Amelia Hirtle
The U.S. Women’s National Team defeated Mexico in their final match in group play by a score of 1-0. The goal came from the hip of Kristie Mewis in the 89th minute.
Unfortunately for the team, Ashley Hatch was injured in a previous match and will be out the rest of the tournament. Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski made changes once again to the starting lineup, one of them including Alex Morgan being back in the starting lineup after not playing against Jamaica. Much has been made of the changes in the lineup. As the team has already qualified for the World Cup, their focus shifts to winning the tournament, which in turn, will earn them a spot in the Paris Olympic games. But as new players attempt to earn minutes, there hasn’t been much time, in live games, to build cohesion.
The atmosphere in Mexico is one, unlike the U.S., has faced thus far. Their matches up until this point have had low attendance, however, playing the home team on their turf changes things. There were points that the team looked to be out of sorts, whether it be due to the crowd or otherwise. At times, they had trouble settling and restarting play. They seemed rushed and impatient.
One of the few chances of the first half came from Midge Purce, who sliced and diced her way into the box, only to take a shot that ended up bouncing off the post. Horan was also close to putting the Americans up in the 43rd minute when she had a clear shot on goal but with no power on it, she sent it right to the keeper.
After receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Megan Rapinoe returned to the team and entered the match after 60 minutes for Sophia Smith. After a red card was given to Lizbeth Ovalle for a hard challenge on Rose Lavelle, the visitors were close to taking advantage of a corner kick. Rapinoe sent a ball into Alex Morgan, who headed it toward the net, but it went right past the post.
The game-winning goal came in the 89th minute when Rapinoe took a quick corner kick, catching the home team off guard. Rapinoe went sideways to Sofia Huerta, who sent the ball into Ashley Sanchez. Sanchez was patient, moving the ball around before passing it off to Taylor Kornieck, who lofted it over the Mexican defense to Emily Sonnett. Her header was initially saved by the goalkeeper, but Mewis was there to clean it up. It wasn’t the prettiest of goals, but the change of pace between Rapinoe’s quickness, to Sanchez slowing it down, ultimately gave the United States the lead.
Thus, the U.S. will move on to face Costa Rica, the second-place finishers in Group B, for the semi-final match on Thursday, July 14th at 7 PM ET.