The U.S. women’s national team completed a perfect first international window of June.
Emma Hayes’ squad secured a 4-0 victory over Jamaica at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Missouri courtesy of braces from Ally Sentnor and Lynn Biyendolo.
The Americans jumped on Jamaica early with intense pressure from the moment the game kicked off. Less than 20 minutes in, Emily Fox took advantage of her continued runs forward with a cutback cross for Sentnor to open the scoring.
Not even ten minutes later, Sentnor doubled the hosts lead with a quick reaction finish to complete her brace – a fourth USWNT goal in as many international starts for the 2024 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year.
After halftime, Biyendolo made an immediate impact off the bench, bundling in a rebound following a corner on the stroke of the hour mark. It was so nice, she had to do it twice before the end of the match, joining Sentnor with a first-time finish on Avery Patterson’s cross in the 88th minute to complete her brace.
Seemingly nobody is as accustomed to such a role as Biyendolo, who passed the retired great Alex Morgan for the most goals as a substitute since her debut October 2016 with 11 such tallies.
Debutant Kelly Abello will also be able to remember her international introduction fondly by keeping a clean sheet in a 90-minute performance at left back. In turn, goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce is yet to conceded a goal in her first three USWNT appearances.
The 4-0 scoreline continued the USWNT’s streak of scoring four or more goals in all six matches they have played against Jamaica, keeping a clean sheet on every occasion.
The USWNT will return to action with two friendlies against the Republic of Ireland on June 26 in Colorado and June 29 in Cincinnati before closing out the window against Canada in the Nation’s Capital on July 2.
going to be tough to keep Alyssa Thompson off the field, getting more confident every game
I agree! She really has an edge to her game and competing at a much higher level now. She is so slight but not shying away from 50/50’s and going to be the fastest player on the field a majority of time.
I am thinking Thompson, Wilson, and Rodman up top with Swanson playing underneath them.
For me you can’t leave Macario on the bench in a meaningful match.
No doubt Macario is a talent and still coming back from injury. However, I am really not sure she is ready for prime time top notch opponent? She just does not move that well either with straight line speed or quick in a ten yard box. Ball movement and speed are what separates the US from the rest of the field. That is why skilled teams try to play the US very physical
Two: Macario played the entire season for Chelsea, 3g 2a in 7 CL appearances so that also answers the can she do it vs top competition. Meanwhile, Rodman is out indefinitely with a back issue that Trin herself said “will never fully be 100%.” Mal Swanson hasn’t played all season for “personal reasons” and of course Sophia is taking the year off to have a baby. Cat, it appears, still has at least nine months fully cement her role.
Alyssa Thompson is a baller no doubt, and everyone can see that she’s improved quite a bit, however, I think when the full team is together she’s a “super sub”. Reason being is she doesn’t yet have that consistent scoring ability you look for in your forwards, something we know “triple espresso” does have in spades. Can you imagine Alyssa coming into a game in the second half against tired legs with her speed? And by the way, let’s not pretend that all three of Trin, Soph and Mal aren’t burners in their own right, although I will admit Alyssa loos blazing fast 😆
What became clear across these two matches is the USWNT is the depth. The team has a lot of quality options across every position. It is striking how many players from that ill-fated WWC team are no longer in the pool. Coach Hayes has done a great job to date.
Another nice win. Neither China or Jamaica were strong opponents but the team scored early and controlled both matches. What’s impressive is that Swanson, Smith, and Rodman the stars of the Olympics were all absent and the offense still found plenty of goals.