The U.S. Women’s National Team kicked off its Victory Tour in positive fashion as it downed the Republic of Ireland at the Rose Bowl on Saturday evening.
Jill Ellis’s side scored a trio of first-half goals to run out 3-0 winners against its European opponents. Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan, and Carli Lloyd all found the back of the net.
The USWNT came out on a strong note as Tobin Heath headed in Christen Press’ cross for a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute. Heath made no mistake as she found the top-right corner with her effort.
Even with the lead, the USWNT continued to put the foot on the gas as Samantha Mewis and Press each had shots saved by Ireland keeper Marie Hourihan.
Horan would extend the hosts advantage in the 31st minute, beating Hourihan down the middle of the goal in the 31st.
After being kept out twice earlier in the half, Carli Lloyd would cap off the scoring on the evening, heading Kelley O’Hara’s cross into the bottom-right corner. It was Lloyd’s 114th all-time goal for the U.S.
That was goal No. 114 for @CarliLloyd.
what how wow 🤯#VictoryTour | #USAvIRL pic.twitter.com/5TQAv7FiUb
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) August 4, 2019
Hourihan finished with six saves on the night, the lone star for the Republic of Ireland. Being out possessed 80-20%, the Irish could not record a shot on goal in what was its second loss of the calendar year.
Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan were unused substitutes for the USWNT after dealing with respective injuries since the end of the World Cup. Emily Sonnett, Jessica McDonald, and Rose Lavelle headlined the substitutions made by Ellis on the evening.
The USWNT will now have an extended break before beginning a two-match series with Portugal on Aug. 29th in Philadelphia.
This match was a good one for our women. Ireland has a reasonably good team. During W/C qualifying, they played the Netherlands to a Tie. In 8 W/C qualifying matches in a Group which had both The Netherlands and Norway in it, they conceded only 6 goals. So they were difficult to score on.
We looked good the first half, but playing different combinations in the 2nd half made it tough
to put anything together offensively against a strong defensive team. I think it is a good idea to take a look at a lot of different players in these upcoming “friendly’s” because the roster for the Olympics will be paired down to 18??, so unless there are any retirements in the mean time, some of our W/C Squad will be watching the Olympic matches from the stands.