The U.S. women’s national team is into the W Gold Cup final after a waterlogged win in penalties over Canada.
It was a hard-fought, gritty win as there were times when the ball couldn’t even move on the pitch due to the torrential rain unleashing onto Snapdragon Stadium. Calls for the game to be postponed came from all sides as the two teams played on.
Jaedyn Shaw opened up the scoring, becoming the first USWNT player to score in each of her first four starts. She also joins Kristine Lilly as the only teenagers in USWNT history to score in multiple knockout round games at a competitive tournament.
“That game was pure comedy,” Shaw said afterward. “I think I was the first one that face planted a puddle so that was awesome.”
A late goal from Jordyn Huitema sent the game to extra time, where Sophia Smith notched her first goal of the year to give the USWNT the lead.
"It's been an emotional ride for me personally since the World Cup, so this is just a big relief and I couldn't be more proud of our team,” Smith said postgame. "To miss a PK in the World Cup takes a toll on you mentally and then I feel like since then, I've just been trying to work my way back.
“I obviously hadn't had a goal this tournament and as a forward, it's hard to not get that and help the team in that way. So I think that goal was just a relief of a lot of emotions."
But Canada wouldn't go away, converting a penalty committed by Naeher in the 127th minute to send it to penalties.
Naeher wouldn’t be bested in penalties, however, allowing just one goal while scoring one herself from the spot. Lindsey Horan and Smith scored the other two PKs for the USWNT to give them the 3-1 edge.
"Just stepping up in a huge moment to face a penalty at the end of the game like that and have to turn around and face a penalty shootout. It's not easy to make three saves ... and contribute to the goal tally," interim head coach Twila Kilgore said. "That just speaks volumes about her mentality.”
Her teammates echoed the sentiment, with Horan calling her performance “nothing new.”
"At the end of the day, she'll just be like, ‘This is my job and that's what I needed to do for the team,'" Horan said of Naeher on the broadcast after the match. "And she's gonna hate herself for like, not saving one of them, I don't know. But she always comes up big for us. That's Alyssa Naeher for you. So, so proud of her, but, nothing new."
For the USWNT, it marked back-to-back performances in which the team had to grind it out – albeit in different ways. A good sign for a team attempting to find its way back to its mentality.
Smith called it a “gritty team performance,” while Horan applauded the team’s ability to play through the conditions.
"That's back to that U.S. mentality that we've been talking about that we needed," Horan said. "It's not a game that you're gonna play football. I don't think there were more than a few completed passes on the ground, but getting a goal, the tie, getting another goal and then the PKs and Alyssa coming up massive.”
The USWNT will now play Brazil in the final on Sunday.
