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USA vs. Canada: Final Score 1-0 as Rose Lavelle’s Late Strike Lifts Yanks in SheBelieves Cup

Published

5 years ago

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Second-half substitute Rose Lavelle scored a late goal to break a nervy 0-0 deadlock and lift the United States Women’s National Team to a 1-0 win in the SheBelieves Cup. The USWNT squandered lots of chances and the Canadians muffed a few as well in a sloppy match that ultimately kept the United States unblemished at Exploria Stadium (5-0-0), outscoring opponents, 14-0.

“We could have done a better job in the final third. It was definitely not for lack of creativity, but I would say it was more about lack of execution,” U.S. Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the game. “I’m just glad that after missing all those opportunities that we were able to find a way to score a goal.”

“I think we’re all very aware that we didn’t play up to our potential, that it was a pretty sloppy match at times, and momentum shifted quite a bit,” defender Becky Sauerbrunn said. “And we really pride ourselves on trying to maintain the momentum for longer stretches of time, so yeah, Canada made it really tough for us. It was a disruptive game.” 

Orlando Pride striker Alex Morgan started on the bench. Andonovski started Alyssa Naeher in goal behind a back line of Crystal Dunn, Sauerbrunn, Abby Dahlkemper, and Midge Purce. Lindsey Horan, Julie Ertz, and Catarina Macario made up the midfield behind a forward line of Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, and Lynn Williams.

Former Pride defender Shelina Zadorsky started at center back for Canada, with midfielder Jordyn Listro on the visitors’ bench.

The game began a bit sloppily with neither team mounting much but Lloyd won a free kick just outside the area just minutes into the game. Rapinoe hit her free kick into the wall. Then Canada suffered an early loss in the game when goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan pulled up with a non-contact injury. She was replaced by Stephanie Labbe in the 11th minute.

The game continued to be choppy and played mainly between the boxes. Each team got a weak header right at the goalkeeper until the 20th minute, when the U.S. got forward and set up Macario at the top of the area for the first good opportunity. Under no pressure from the defense, she fired her shot over the bar.

Williams got an opportunity in the 32nd minute, heading a bouncing ball toward goal. Unfortunately, she popped her shot up, giving Labbe an easy catch. It was Lloyd’s turn to get a header on goal in the 35th. Purce sent Williams down the right side and she fizzed a cross into the area. Lloyd met it squarely but Labbe tipped it over the bar at the last second.

Canada’s best opportunity came in the 38th minute when Janine Beckie was the first to reach a deflected shot on the left side. She tried to go near post, didn’t get much on the shot, and Naeher fought it off for a corner.

A minute later, Labbe was forced into a great diving save on a cannon shot from Williams from outside the area.

Williams had a shot from the left side of the box in the 45th minute but it was right at Labbe.

In the first minute of first-half stoppage time, Labbe spilled a Rapinoe shot that dipped just in front of goal but Williams couldn’t get a toe on it to poke it home and the Canadian defense was just able to bundle it out over the end line for a corner. Nothing came off the set piece and that was the last chance for either side in the opening period.

Lloyd came close just after the break. Macario and Ertz made two quick passes to set her up at the top of the area but Lloyd’s shot was stopped by a sprawling Labbe in the 47th minute. Five minutes later, Williams picked out Rapinoe at the top of the area but the U.S. winger hit her shot straight at Labbe.

A minute later, Dunn gifted Canada a 2-on-1 break when she made a poor back pass. Nichelle Prince crossed to Beckie at the back post and Naeher made a huge stop to keep the game scoreless and bail out Dunn.

“The chances that they had was after we lost the ball in the middle,” Andonovski said. It wasn’t because they broke us down. We lost a ball in the middle, and they went straight down to towards our goal.”

Lloyd should have put the U.S. ahead in the 57th minute. A cross into the box found Lloyd all alone with a lot of net to shoot at but Lloyd’s header sailed well over the bar.

Andonovski brought Morgan, Lavelle, and Christen Press into the game to try to get something going in the attack.

“They come on, and it’s exciting, and it’s uplifting and it makes you believe even more that we’re gonna close this game out,” Purce said about seeing three players of that caliber check into the game in the second half.

The substitutions ultimately worked, but the U.S. continued to fail to take its chances with one exception.

Press fired wide of the net from point-blank range in the 65th minute and Morgan sent a left-footed shot and a header each wide in the 68th and 69th minutes, respectively. Five minutes later, the USWNT were fortunate that there is no video assistant referee in the event because Purce was certainly guilty of a handball in the area as Canada attacked.

In the 77th minute, it appeared no goal would ever be forthcoming in the match when Horan ran onto an Ertz cross and smashed a shot off the crossbar.

But the breakthrough finally happened two minutes later. Purce drew a foul on Adriana Leon out on the right side and the ensuing set piece service bounced off Horan and fell for Lavelle to slot past Labbe, making it 1-0 in the 79th minute.

Ertz and Williams each missed the target again from good positions before the match ended and the U.S. survived a corner kick that found Zadorsky and skipped just wide of goal at the other end. Ultimately, the U.S. was able to grind out the win but the lack of sharpness in front of goal prevented a comfortable victory. At the same time, Canada also didn’t take its few chances at the other end, so it could have been worse.

“It’s always special when you play Canada and it’s always going to be a really difficult game,” Purce said.

It was a win, but Andonovski wasn’t particularly pleased afterwards.

“When we create 10 opportunities to score and we score one, I’m disappointed, because I want us to score more goals,” he said. “And on top of that, if we allow any shots to goal, I’m not going to be happy and I thought that tonight. They had couple a couple of good opportunities to score, and we’re going to look into it. We’re going to look a little bit deeper why that happened.”

Brazil 4-1 Argentina

In the early match, Brazil and Argentina played a cagey first half before the Brazilians’ quality emerged in the second half. Brazil got the better of its rival neighbor country in the second 45 minutes, scoring twice just after the restart to take control and adding a late insurance goal in a 4-1 win.

It was the first match of the year for both teams and Argentina’s first match in 464 days. Brazil manager Pia Sundhage started Orlando Pride star Marta on the left side, captaining her national team. Former Pride defender Camila started at right back. Argentina’s lineup was down four players due to positive COVID-19 tests, making the job that much more difficult.

Brazil fashioned the first good look at goal in the seventh minute when Tainara fired a shot on the scramble following a Brazilian corner kick. Argentina goalkeeper Solana Pereyra was able to make the near-post save. Argentina’s first look came in the 10th minute when Yamila Rodriguez cut in from the left wing and fired a shot that was right at Brazilian goalkeeper Aline Reis.

Brazil nearly struck first in the 21st minute when Debinha got onto a low Marta corner kick service at the far side of the area but she fired off the outside of the right post. Argentina had a couple of half chances but failed to connect in the final third with the last pass.

The breakthrough finally came at the half-hour mark. A quick passing sequence sent Adriana into the attack with speed. Argentine defender Aldana Cometti fouled her in the area and a penalty was immediately awarded. Marta stepped up to the spot in the 30th minute and fired under Pereyra to open the scoring in her home stadium. Pereyra guessed the right way but Marta put enough on the shot to squeeze it underneath to make it 1-0 with her 109th international goal in 155 caps.

That was all of the first-half scoring and the Brazilians took their 1-0 lead into the break. Neither team generated much, with Brazil holding a 56%-44% advantage in possession and getting the only three corner kicks of the opening period.

Brazil found another gear after halftime and put the game away early in the second period.

Debinha doubled the lead just two minutes after the restart. Beatriz took a pass from Marta and slipped Debinha in behind the defense with a perfect ball. All Debinha had to do was slot it past Pereyra to make it 2-0.

Adriana made it 3-0 in the 54th minute, taking a pass from Debinha and splitting the Argentinian center backs before smashing a shot past Pereyra.

Mariana Larroquette pulled one back for Argentina in the 60th minute on a rare Argentina foray into the Brazil end. Rodriguez sent a perfect back-post cross from left to right. Larroquette beat Camila — who moved to the left side after a substitution — and headed it back across goal, where it hit the left post and bounced in to make it 3-1.

Lorena Benitez had perhaps Argentina’s best chance to pull back within a goal in the 79th minute. Finding herself in open space about 30 yards out she fired a shot but it sailed high and wide.

Instead, Brazil restored the three-goal advantage moments later. Second-half subs linked up as Cristiane sent Geyse down the right side of the area in the 82nd minute. She sent a hard shot toward the back post and although Pereyra got her fingers on it, the shot had too much power and found the back of the net for a 4-1 lead.

From there, Brazil saw out the match and finished with a comfortable win in the opening match. The Brazilians ended the game with more shots (6-2), more shots on target (4-1), more corners (3-1), and holding a 57%-43% advantage in possession.

The tournament continues on Sunday when the USWNT faces Brazil at 3 p.m. That match will be for first place in the tournament, as the Brazilians now hold the top spot on goal differential. Canada will take on Argentina in the nightcap at 6 p.m.

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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

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July 22, 2026

By

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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