U.S. WNT Rolls to 7-0 Victory Against Russia in Boca Raton, Fla.
Led by two-goal efforts from midfielder Carli Lloyd and forward Christen Press, the U.S. Women’s National Team defeated Russia 7-0 at FAU Stadium in the first meeting of a two-game set.
Feb. 8, 2014
© U.S. Soccer
IN THE IMAGE: Lloyd got the scoring started with two first half goals
- Carli Lloyd and Christen Press Each Score Two Goals
- Abby Wambach Nets 164th Goal while Heather O’Reilly and Sydney Leroux Add Tallies to Help Extend Unbeaten Streak to 41 Games
- USA and Russia Will Meet in Second Leg on Feb. 12 at Georgia Dome in Atlanta; Kick-Off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ussoccer.com
BOCA RATON, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2014) – Led by two-goal efforts from midfielder Carli Lloyd and forward Christen Press, the U.S. Women’s National Team defeated Russia 7-0 at FAU Stadium in the first meeting of a two-game set.
Midfielder Heather O’Reilly and forward Sydney Leroux also supplied a goal each and world goal scoring record holder Abby Wambach tallied the 164 th of her career in the second half.
The U.S. WNT extended its unbeaten streak at home to 79 games (69-0-10) and extended its unbeaten streak overall to 41 games (35-0-6), dating back to March of 2012.
The USA and Russia square off again on Wed., Feb. 12, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be live on ussoccer.com. Fans can also follow the U.S. WNT on Twitter @ussoccer_wnt.
The Americans thoroughly controlled the run of play against Russia, dominating possession from the start, and opened the scoring deluge and in the 29th minute.
Lloyd, who missed the USA’s 1-0 victory against Canada on Jan. 31 while serving a red card suspension, beautifully split a pair of Russia defenders on the dribble to give herself a free look at goal. She then blasted her shot past Russia goalkeeper Elvira Todua and into the upper right corner for a 1-0 lead. Lloyd was set up by O’Reilly, who terrorized the right flank before exiting the game for Florida native Erika Tymrak in the 68th minute. The assist was the 48th of O’Reilly’s career, passing Carin Gabarra for sole possession of seventh place all-time.
In the 32nd minute O’Reilly found herself in the right place when cross from the left deflected off of Russia left back Marina Pushkareva and ricocheted to the U.S. midfielder. O’Reilly blasted her shot into the upper right corner for a 2-0 advantage and her 38th career goal.
With O’Reilly’s early dominance, Russia head coach Sergey Lavrentyev was forced to replace left back Elena Medved with Elena Medved after little more than 30 minutes.
The move did nothing to slow the U.S. attack and in the 37th minute Lloyd scored one of her signature blasts from distance. After bringing down a Stephanie Cox pass from the left side with her chest, Lloyd dribbled laterally until she found some space for her world-class right foot. With a strike reminiscent of her game-winner against France at the 2012 Olympics, she drilled her shot into the upper left corner to make it 3-0 lead.
In the second half, the USA picked up right where it left off with Lloyd crossing from the left to found Press, who redirected the ball with her head past Todua in the 51st minute.
Leroux made it 5-0 just three minutes later as she thundered into the penalty area to latch on to a well-weighted slip pass from Lauren Holiday. While fighting off a defender, she lunged for the ball and cut her shot past Todua on the ground and inside left post. Holiday assist was the 27th of her career, passing Brandi Chastain for sole possession of 13th place on the all-time WNT assists list.
Press grabbed her second goal of the match and 10th of her young international career in the 58th minute after a corner kick bounced out to Ali Krieger at the top of the box. The right back’s shot smacked off the chest of the Russian goalkeeper and Press was first to the rebound to tap it home for a 6-0 lead.
U.S. WNT head coach Tom Sermanni replaced Leroux and Press with Amy Rodriguez and Wambach, respectively, in the 60th minute and seven minutes later the fresh forward tandem connected for the final goal. Rodriguez supplied a nifty back heel pass to Wambach on the left side and she finished into the open net for the final margin.
Russia had to play the last 20 minutes or so with 10 players after defender Valentina Orlova took down Rodriguez on a breakaway and was shown a straight red card for being the last defender.
The seven-goal victory was the USA’s most lopsided win since a 7-0 rout of Mexico on Sept. 3, 2013, at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
Additional Notes:
- The U.S. WNT improved to 6-0-1 all-time against Russia.
- The USA is now 18-4-1 all-time in Florida-based matches.
- The U.S. WNT moves to 15-0-3 all-time under head coach Tom Sermanni.
- U.S. captain and center back Christie Rampone returned to the starting lineup (after coming on as a sub against Canada on Jan. 31) to earn her 289th-career cap. Rampone ranks second all-time behind Kristine Lilly (352 appearances from 1987-2010).
- Christen Press and Sydney Leroux were paired up top, marking just the second time the two have started alongside each other. The other was the USA’s 3-1 victory against the Netherlands on April 9, 2013, as Press scored two of the team’s three goals.
- Midfielder Megan Rapinoe entered the game for Stephanie Cox in the 74th minute, and Rachel Van Hollebeke (formerly Buehler) replaced Sauerbrunn in the 77th minute, playing her first match under her married name.
- With O’Reilly and Solo making their 138th-career starts, they have passed Michelle Akers and are tied for 13th on the all-time list.
- The match marked the third two-goal game of Christen Press’s young international career.
- It also marked the 17th time the USA has scored exactly seven goals in a match.
- Stephanie Cox’s assist was the 12th of her career. Krieger’s assist was her fourth.
- The USA out-shot Russia 32-3 and allowed just one shot on goal as Hope Solo picked up her 69th career shutout, putting her just two shy of tying Briana Scurry for most shutouts in U.S. history.
-U.S. Women’s National Team Match Report-
Match:
U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Russia
Date:
Feb. 8, 2014
Competition:
International Friendly
Venue:
FAU Stadium; Boca Raton, Fla.
Kickoff:
3:30 p.m. ET
Attendance:
8,857
Weather:
80 degrees, scattered clouds
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 3 4 7
RUS 0 0 0
USA – Carli Lloyd (Heather O’Reilly) 29th minute
USA – Heather O’Reilly 32
USA – Carli Lloyd (Stephanie Cox) 37
USA – Christen Press (Carli Lloyd) 51
USA – Sydney Leroux (Lauren Holiday) 54
USA – Christen Press (Ali Krieger) 59
USA – Abby Wambach (Amy Rodriguez) 67
Lineups:
USA:
1-Hope Solo; 11-Ali Krieger, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (16-Rachel Van Hollebeke, 80), 3-Christie Rampone (capt.), 14-Stephanie Cox (15-Megan Rapinoe, 74);
9-Heather O’Reilly (17-Erika Tymrak, 68), 10-Carli Lloyd, 12-Lauren Holiday, 19-Kristie Mewis; 23-Christen Press (8-Amy Rodriguez, 60), 2-Sydney Leroux
(20-Abby Wambach, 60)
Substitutions Not Used: 6-Whitney Engen, 18-Nicole Barnhart
Head coach: Tom Sermanni
RUS:
1-Elvira Todua; 2-Marina Pushkereva (18-Elena Medved, 33), 3-Valentina Orlova, 7-Ekaterina Dmitrenko, 19-Ksenia Tsybutovich (capt.); 13-Alla Sidorovskaya,
20-Nelli Korovkina (11-Anna Sinyutina, 90+4), 23-Elena Morozova (14-Anastasiya Chevtchenko, 53), 17-Ekaterina Pantyukhina (9-Alena Andreeva, 88); 10-Elena
Terekhova (8-Karina Bliskaya, 75) 16-Elena Kostareva (4-Svetlana Tsidikova, 63)
Substitutions Not Used: 12- Maria Zhamanakova, 15-Ksenia Kovalenko, 21-Alena Beliaeva, 22-Daria Makarenko
Head coach: Sergey Lavrenty
Stats Summary: USA / RUS
Shots: 32 / 3
Shots on Goal: 18 / 1
Saves: 1 / 6
Corner Kicks: 13 / 2
Fouls: 8 / 8
Offside: 3 / 2
Misconduct Summary:
RUS – Valentina Orlova (sent off) 68th minute
RUS – Ekaterina Dmitrenko (caution) 70
Officials:
Referee: Marie-Soleil Beaudoin (CAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Marie-Josee Charbonneau (CAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Suzanne Morisset (CAN)
Fourth Official: Christina Unkel (USA)
Budweiser Woman of the Match: Carli Lloyd
