June 29, (THEWILL) – The 2-0 friendly victory over Colombia by the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) at Rio Tinto Stadium required a lot of effort and included an hour-long stoppage due to lightning and bad weather in Sandy, Utah, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The American women used the game as a preparation for the CONCACAF Women’s Championship in Monterrey, Mexico, where spots in the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and the 2024 Olympics in Paris, are on the line. Vlatko Andonovski’s team were coming from a more comfortable 3-0 victory over Colombia, but found goals hard to come by.
The USWNT took the lead in the 23rd minute when Manuela Vanegas deflected Sofia Huerta’s cross from the right flank past her goalkeeper Catalina Perez for an own goal. In the entire of the first half, Perez kept her team in the game by making a combination of saves and disrupting plays to keep the score at one at the half.
A likely Colombian equaliser was near when Leicy Santos’ goal-bound drive from outside the penalty area was deflected wide of the far post in the 55th minute by keeper Alyssa Naeher. Then, due to lightning and heavy weather in the vicinity, the game was halted just after the 75th minute, giving both teams a chance to regroup for the remaining 30 minutes.
The USWNT capitalised on the break as substitute Kelly O’Hara slammed a first-time volley past Perez to give the Americans a 2-0 win ahead of their Group A opening of the CONCACAF W Championship on July 5 against Haiti.
According to U.S. Soccer, one of the starting XI, Carson Pickett, who was missing part of her left arm at birth, became the first person with a limb difference to play for the USWNT, who are now unbeaten in 69 straight home games.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
