Costa Rica pulled one back from the penalty spot, before 16-year-old Deanne Rose put the game out of reach of the Costa Ricans with a late goal and Canada, bronze medalists at the 2012 London Games, advanced to the final. The result earns the Americans a spot opposite Canada in Sunday’s final in Houston, but more important, it books them passage alongside their northern neighbor to the Olympics.
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“We finally qualified”, Morgan said.
But what this game was about was clear as soon as the lineup came out with Pugh’s name on it. To be blunt, qualifying is largely a formality for the US women.
It was Heath’s first goal since she scored in the 5-2 World Cup final victory over Japan.
The youngest player on the team is 17-year-old Mallory Pugh, who is headed to UCLA next season. The U.S. striker got the tap in after defender Kelley O’Hara launched a pass into Lindsey Horan.
In the opener, Canada went ahead on Sinclair’s goal in the 17th minute.
Pugh looked likely to score nine minutes later she she rounded Forbes but the angle was too tight for a shot.
Forbes had made some good saves to stave off what could have been a much worse USA offensives onslaught.
Carli Lloyd, playing on the home field of her NWSL team, the Houston Dash, scored on a header in the 43rd minute for her 23rd goal in the team’s last 18 games.
Lloyd’s goal was her 12th in Olympic qualifying competition, per Laura Vecsey of Fox Sports, two shy of Abby Wambach’s record of 14. And to round things out, Brian served a ball into the box that Morgan finished one time into the back of the net. She now has 62 worldwide goals for the US and seems untracked to become more successful finishing her chances, especially now that she’s back to full health.
Statistics they may say, are for losers.
“The journey begins now”, Lloyd said.
On the heels of its dynamic win of the FIFA Women’s World Cup last Summer, the USA women’s soccer team is in line to next go after a gold medal. And while the team will look to win again against their neighbors to the north, winning on Friday night was the biggest goal of all. After making three appearances as a winger in the knockout round of the World Cup, she was an unused substitute for the Americans’ first two group stage games of the Olympic qualifying tournament.
“We were pretty excited”. We’ll enjoy it for a little bit but our job here isn’t done. “I was really pleased on the way we played….” So, how many days is it until she comes to Orlando to lead the Pride? “She’s a poacher, man, she’s a goalscorer”. She kept the ball in the air until she found an angle that worked, then flicked the ball over her head before volleying the ball past Costa Rica goalkeeper Dinnia Diaz.
Of course, it was CONCACAF qualifying, and all the players had a little room to maneuver more freely than usual.
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Lloyd gave her assessment of what she expects in Sunday’s match against Canada, per Watson.
