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USA vs. Colombia: Final Score 6-0 as Yanks Remain Unbeaten at Exploria Stadium

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6 years ago

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The United States Women’s National Team put Colombia in a blender, winning 6-0 in the second of two friendlies between the teams this week at Exploria Stadium. Catarina Macario and Midge Purce scored their first USWNT goals, Megan Rapinoe added a brace, and Lynn Williams and Lindsey Horan also scored for the Yanks, who once again smothered the Colombians with a stifling press that kept the visitors on their back heels all night.

The USWNT improved to 7-0-1 in the all-time series against Colombia and 31-0-3 in the last 34 matches overall. The U.S. women are now 4-0-0 at Exploria Stadium, outscoring opponents 13-0.

“We started working from the October camp on. We started tweaking the way we’re defending a little bit, which I think that it seems like we’re moving in the right direction,” U.S. Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the match. “At least the stats show that we’re moving in the right direction. I still feel like there are things that we can get better at. But then on the other side, I feel like we are able to create more opportunities, or we’re creating a lot of opportunities. You know, we did it against Holland. We did it now in these two games. We’re just getting closer to the final touch, the final piece, and just capitalizing on all these opportunities.”

Andonovski rotated his squad from Monday’s lineup, making seven changes. He handed Catarina Macario her first USWNT start up top between Monday starters Megan Rapinoe and Lynn Williams. Rose Lavelle stepped into the starting lineup in place of Lindsey Horan on the right side of the midfield, alongside Sam Mewis and Julie Ertz. The entire back line rotated out, with Emily Sonnett and Ali Krieger on the left and right, respectively, of center backs Tierna Davidson and Alana Cook. Jane Campbell made just her second career start in goal in place of Alyssa Naeher, with Orlando Pride stopper Ashlyn Harris available on the bench.

The U.S. started on the front foot, getting a scoring chance just 13 seconds into the game. The Yanks worked a set play off the opening kickoff and it ended with Lavelle firing a shot just over the bar. Macario had a shot blocked in the second minute but the U.S. press again created issues for Colombia and the Yanks broke through seconds later.

Krieger fizzed a cross into the area and found Macario at the near post. She smashed it into the net to score her first career USWNT goal at the three-minute mark. There was, unfortunately, no assist for Krieger as the cross took a slight deflection, but the U.S. led 1-0 anyway.

“Ali played a wonderful ball and I was able to just finish it off like we had been training in practice,” Macario said. “I feel like this week I’ve had a lot of dreams come true just in a very short amount and I’m so grateful for it.”

A minute after the goal, Mewis nearly doubled the lead, firing a deflected shot that went just wide.

The U.S. attack continued to favor the right side, with Krieger sending some good balls into the area. She picked out Macario in the 16th minute, leading to a corner kick and then sent in a recycled ball off the ensuing set piece that Ertz headed wide.

Mewis recovered the ball on the left side in the 22nd minute and started another good sequence for the U.S., crossing to Lavelle, who laid off for Macario. The shot took a deflection and hit off the post as Macario nearly had her second of the game.

Macario again came close in the 30th minute, smashing a shot from the top of the box that forced a great diving save by Sandra Sepulveda. Cook popped a shot up onto the roof of the net on the ensuing corner. Williams should have made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute, but she fired just wide off a good cross from Sonnett.

However, Rapinoe doubled the lead two minutes later. The ball found the veteran winger on the left side of the penalty area and she fired a shot that hit the foot of Carolina Arias and deflected inside the near post to make it 2-0 in the 35th minute.

Lavelle nearly made it 3-0 a minute later. After Sepulveda came off her line to make a play, Lavelle smashed a shot at the seemingly empty net but it hit Nancy Acosta and deflected out for a corner.

The third goal came just before halftime. While Rapinoe was delivering the USWNT’s ninth corner kick of the first half, Daniela Arias wrapped up Mewis and pulled her down in the area. Referee Daniele Chesky immediately blew the whistle and pointed to the spot. Rapinoe tucked her shot just inside the right post, beating Sepulveda to make it 3-0 in the 44th minute.

It was a comfortable opening 45 minutes and Colombia simply had no answer to the U.S. pressure. Krieger and Sonnett provided good width in the attack and Macario and Lavelle especially had no trouble carving through the defense. If there was one criticism of the U.S. it was a lack of lethality with the final ball. The USWNT led in shots (19-1), shots on goal (6-0), corners (9-0), possession (66%-34%), and passing accuracy (77%-55%).

Rapinoe tried to complete her hat trick in the first minute of the second half, but smashed her shot from distance over the bar. The U.S. momentum continued moments later when Krieger nearly picked out Macario at the back post but Sepulveda got a touch to it to prevent an easy goal. Moments later, Krieger sent a header on frame but Sepulveda was there to make a comfortable save.

Sepulveda was called into action again in the 57th minute, this time making an outstanding save to deny a drive by Lavelle. It was a momentary reprieve because the U.S. scored its fourth goal three minutes later.

Mewis crossed in from the left and Williams rose to meet it, heading it past Sepulveda to make it 4-0 in the 60th minute.

Mewis should have made it 5-0 less than a minute later. A cross in from the right found her all alone at the left post but her header went off that very part of the frame, hit a Colombian defender, and bounced just over the crossbar on the ricochet. It was amazing that the ball didn’t go in on that sequence, but for the moment it remained a 4-0 game.

Campbell finally had something to do in the 65th minute. Second-half sub Kena Romero freed herself up for a shot at the top of the area, but the ball was deflected by the defense and Campbell came out to collect easily.

Mewis suffered an injury moments later, with the trainers coming on to test her ankle. She left the match.

“She’s very strong and very tough, and the first impression when we asked her, she goes ‘oh I’m fine, I’m fine,’” Andonovski said. “But obviously we’re doing all the exams and doing everything possible and following all the protocols to make sure that she’s really fine. We don’t know what fine means in her world so pretty soon we’re going to know how she feels.” 

The fifth goal came in the 73rd minute. Completely unmarked, substitute Horan got on the end of a Crystal Dunn corner and swept it in to make it 5-0.

It was just a matter of how many the U.S. would score at that point. The ball continued to ping around the Yanks’ final third, and chances and half chances continued through the rest of the night. The sixth goal could have gone in any number of times, but it finally did so in the 86th minute. Carli Lloyd gathered the ball on the left, cut inside and launched either a shot or a cross toward the back post. Purce was cutting through the area and flicked it on with a header to notch her first international goal.

Lloyd would have added a seventh in stoppage time but she was offside on the play. The 6-0 result was deserved for the U.S. in a comprehensive victory over a young, overmatched Colombian side.

The United States led in shots (33-2), shots on target (12-0), corners (21-0), possession (67%-33%), and passing accuracy (80%-57%).

The U.S. will return to action next month at Exploria Stadium in the SheBelieves Cup, taking on Canada Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. Brazil and Japan will also take part in the competition.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 22, 2026

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Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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