USA vs. Canada, Olympic Qualifying: Final Score 3-0 as Yanks Again Conquer Concacaf

Lynn Williams, Lindsey Horan, and Megan Rapinoe supplied the offense in a three-goal second half to lift the United States Women’s National Team to a 3-0 win over rival Canada at Dignity Health Sports Park. The win closed out the Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Tournament with yet another trophy for the USWNT.

Both teams came into the match undefeated in the tournament, and both had already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. Despite that, the two teams were playing for the tournament trophy. Ultimately the U.S. came out on top but it didn’t come easy.

Vlatko Andonovski made a few changes in his starting line up for the final. Alyssa Naeher was again in goal behind a back line consisting of  Crystal Dunn, Abby Dahlkemper, and the Pride’s Ali Krieger and Emily Sonnett. Horan, captain Julie Ertz, and Rose Lavelle made up the midfield. Up top, Jessica McDonald, Williams, and Christen Press led the attack.

The U.S. came out on the front foot, pressing the Canadians and looking to score first, but Canada did a good job of absorbing the attack time and time again. Press looked to continue her good form and was the player creating the early chances, though she was unable to find the final bit of quality. That’s not to say she didn’t give it her all, including this shot from distance, that nearly opened the scoring for the U.S.

Canada did get a few chances in the first half, with the team looking for Sinclair most of the time. Jessie Fleming had Canada’s first good opportunity in the 24th minute, but dropped it on top of the goal. In the 32nd minute Janine Beckie’s shot was easily handled by Naeher. Canada’s best chance came in the 38th minute, when Sinclair got through, but Naeher came out to meet her and made an outstanding save.

Despite all the chances, the U.S. went into the half scoreless against its international rival.

The U.S. started the second half again pressing hard in an attempt to open the scoring. It was the longest the U.S. had gone without scoring in the tournament. The U.S. finally broke through in the 60th minute when Williams took advantage of a mistake by the Canada back line, stealing a loose ball and putting a rocket into the upper right corner.

Once the match opened up, the U.S. truly got on the front foot, and Williams was able to get an assist to go with her goal when Horan doubled the lead for the U.S. in the 71st minute.

The U.S. had a scare in the 79th minute when Krieger went down after taking an elbow from Sinclair, but she was able to stay on. Then, in the 87th minute the U.S. put the match completely out of reach on a Rapinoe goal, again assisted by Williams.

The U.S. saw out the rest of the match and took the trophy once again. Despite only having 46% of the possession, the U.S. dominated the match with 19 shots to Canada’s four, and five on goal to Canada’s two.

The United States improved to 23-0-1 in Olympic qualifying matches, 50-3-7 in the all-time series against Canada, and 24-0-3 since the team’s last loss in France in January of 2019. The USWNT has outscored its five opponents by a combined 25-0 in this tournament.

The U.S. is next in action March 5, 2020 in the SheBelieves Cup when the Yanks take on England at Exploria Stadium at 7 p.m. ET.