By Amelia Hirtle
The U.S. Women’s National team played in their final friendly before the Concacaf W qualifying tournament in Mexico. The home team beat the visitors by a score of 2-0. Carson Pickett, who started the match, became the first player with a limb different to take the field of the U.S.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski planned for a heavy rotation for the second friendly against Colombia. Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe were included in the starting IX for the first time in a while for both players.
The match started with some cheeky passes from the home team as they worked their way up the field. The midfield was open for Rose Lavelle to take advantage of it, which she did, but she was unable to connect on the final pass with the forwards. The first goal came in the 23rd minute when Sofia Huerta sent in a cross that was headed into the net by the Colombian defender, Manuela Vanegas. It was unlucky for the visitors, as their defense had been stout up until that point.
Colombian keeper Catalina Perez continued her run of making fantastic saves and keeping the U.S. out of goal. The first half continued, and while the home team dominated possession, they were unable to find another goal in the first half. One of their best chances, came right before halftime when Huerta sent a ball into Morgan, who stuck her leg out to contact the ball, but it just hit the crossbar.
After the half, Alyssa Naeher was forced to make a save as the visitors looked to be on the attack. Rapinoe almost got involved in the scoring on a nifty header, but it was cleared away at the goal line by a defender.
The teams were taken off the field around the 75th minute due to a lightning delay. After approximately a 45-minute delay that included warm-ups, both teams took the field to finish the match. Defender Kelley O’Hara got on the score sheet from a rocket shot on the right side to make the final score 2-0.
With the friendlies aside, the U.S. will now travel to Mexico where they have six days to prepare for the first opponent of the qualifying tournament. Their opponents in group play will be Haiti, Jamaica, and Mexico. The USWNT will need to be more clinical in the final third, as Concacaf qualifying will provide many challenges and the other teams won’t wait on them to score.
Their first match is against Haiti, on Monday, July 4th at 7:00 PM.