Welcome to today’s In-Game Blog for the Volvo Winners Cup match between the U.S. Women’s National Team and Sweden. We’ll have all the information on this game for the USA, including lineups and in-game notes from Halmstad, Sweden.
Lineup:
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 2-Heather Mitts, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.), 19-Rachel Buehler, 6-Amy LePeilbet; 9-Heather O’Reilly, 7-Shannon Boxx, 12-Lauren Cheney, 15-Megan Rapinoe; 13-Alex Morgan, 20-Abby Wambach
Pre-Game Notes:
In-Game Notes:
And we're underway in Halmstad.
3rd min.: Lauren Cheney with the game's first shot, a little wide left of the net
6th min.: Sweden comes back with its first shot by Sofia Jakobsson, goes well over the goal; Lotta Schelin set her up
8th min.: Abby Wambach GOAL from more than 30 yards out, 1-0 USA; shot in the upper left corner of the frame
17th min., Antonia Goransson shot trickles past Rachel Buehler, Hope Solo secures
18th min., Lotta Schelin with a strong strike, Hope Solo stretches for a big save
18th min., Lotts Schelin again, Hope Solo stays low for another save; Sweden pressuring
22nd min., Alex Morgan GOAL, fights off her defender for the ball. Shannon Boxx played the ball forward to Morgan. 2-0 USA
28th min., Antonia Goransson with some individual work in the middle, her shot goes right of the frame
33rd min., Lauren Cheney with a corner from the right, Christie Rampone shot goes over
35th min., Lotta Schelin gets her team back in it with a GOAL; USA leads Sweden 2-1 now; Nilla Fischer with the assist
44th min., Megan Rapinoe with a great ball from the left to Alex Morgan, but her shot goes over the goal
HALFTIME: USA 2, Sweden 1
Three subs for the U.S.: Carli Lloyd for Shannon Boxx, Becky Sauerbrunn for Christie Rampone and Tobin Heath for Heather O'Reilly
46th min., right off the bat Megan Rapinoe with a header that hits the crossbar
56th min., Tobin Heath GOAL for the USA, header down to the ground and into the net; Abby Wambach with the cross in from the right. USA 3, Sweden 1
60th min., Carli Lloyd tries a shot from deep but Hedvig Lindahl with the save
63rd min., U.S. sub: Amy Rodriguez for Megan Rapinoe
74th min., U.S. sub: Sydney Leroux in for Alex Morgan
88th min., Amy LePeilbet with a searching cross, nearly finds Abby Wambach but can't get enough of it to put on frame
90th min., 4 minutes of stoppage time added
It's a final: U.S. 3, Sweden 1. The USA improves to 12-1-1 on the year.
The U.S. looks ahead to its game against 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup champion Japan on Monday (7 a.m. ET kickoff).
Continue reading...
Lineup:
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 2-Heather Mitts, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.), 19-Rachel Buehler, 6-Amy LePeilbet; 9-Heather O’Reilly, 7-Shannon Boxx, 12-Lauren Cheney, 15-Megan Rapinoe; 13-Alex Morgan, 20-Abby Wambach
Pre-Game Notes:
- The U.S. has faced Sweden 32 previous times, ranking as the fourth-most games against an opponent behind Canada (49), Norway (47) and China PR (45).
- The USA is 19-5-8 all-time against Sweden, most recently posting a 4-0 victory in the third-place match of the 2012 Algarve Cup on March 7. U.S. forward Alex Morgan notched her first hat trick and Abby Wambach tallied her 134th career international goal.
- The U.S.-Sweden series started out in the negative column for the USA with a 2-1 loss to Sweden on July 9, 1987, in Blaine, Minn. But the U.S. posted a 10-0-3 record in its next 13 matches through 2000.
- The USA’s first win against Sweden came on Nov. 17, 1991, in the first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in Panyu, China. U.S. legend Mia Hamm made her first World Cup start and scored during the team’s 3-2 victory in both teams’ Group B opener. Hamm’s 62nd-minute goal gave the USA a 3-0 lead and proved to be the game-winner. Carin Jennings had two earlier goals for the U.S., and Sweden fought back late with two second-half tallies. Also playing in that match? Current U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage, who started and went the full 80 minutes (that’s right, the matches were just 80 minutes long for that World Cup). The U.S. Women would go on to win the first World Cup by defeating Norway in the Final, while Sweden dominated Germany in the third-place match.
- The teams have met head-to-head once in the Olympics, with the USA topping Sweden 2-1 on July 23, 1996, in the opening round in Orlando, Fla. Tisha Venturini and Shannon MacMillan provided the scoring for the U.S., and the USA gave up an own goal for Sweden’s only score. Sundhage started and played the full 90 minutes for Sweden.
In-Game Notes:
And we're underway in Halmstad.
3rd min.: Lauren Cheney with the game's first shot, a little wide left of the net
6th min.: Sweden comes back with its first shot by Sofia Jakobsson, goes well over the goal; Lotta Schelin set her up
8th min.: Abby Wambach GOAL from more than 30 yards out, 1-0 USA; shot in the upper left corner of the frame
17th min., Antonia Goransson shot trickles past Rachel Buehler, Hope Solo secures
18th min., Lotta Schelin with a strong strike, Hope Solo stretches for a big save
18th min., Lotts Schelin again, Hope Solo stays low for another save; Sweden pressuring
22nd min., Alex Morgan GOAL, fights off her defender for the ball. Shannon Boxx played the ball forward to Morgan. 2-0 USA
28th min., Antonia Goransson with some individual work in the middle, her shot goes right of the frame
33rd min., Lauren Cheney with a corner from the right, Christie Rampone shot goes over
35th min., Lotta Schelin gets her team back in it with a GOAL; USA leads Sweden 2-1 now; Nilla Fischer with the assist
44th min., Megan Rapinoe with a great ball from the left to Alex Morgan, but her shot goes over the goal
HALFTIME: USA 2, Sweden 1
Three subs for the U.S.: Carli Lloyd for Shannon Boxx, Becky Sauerbrunn for Christie Rampone and Tobin Heath for Heather O'Reilly
46th min., right off the bat Megan Rapinoe with a header that hits the crossbar
56th min., Tobin Heath GOAL for the USA, header down to the ground and into the net; Abby Wambach with the cross in from the right. USA 3, Sweden 1
60th min., Carli Lloyd tries a shot from deep but Hedvig Lindahl with the save
63rd min., U.S. sub: Amy Rodriguez for Megan Rapinoe
74th min., U.S. sub: Sydney Leroux in for Alex Morgan
88th min., Amy LePeilbet with a searching cross, nearly finds Abby Wambach but can't get enough of it to put on frame
90th min., 4 minutes of stoppage time added
It's a final: U.S. 3, Sweden 1. The USA improves to 12-1-1 on the year.
The U.S. looks ahead to its game against 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup champion Japan on Monday (7 a.m. ET kickoff).
Continue reading...