Seven different U.S. women’s national team players got on the board Saturday in a 9-1 thrashing of Uzbekistan, the first of two friendly matches this week.
Sophia Smith scored a hat trick for the USWNT’s third, fourth and sixth goals of the game, earning her Woman of the Match honors. The forward is the first USWNT player to do so since Alex Morgan recorded a hat trick against Paraguay last September. Smith also tallied her first international goal against Paraguay in that friendly series.
The 21-year-old Smith is the youngest player to score a hat trick for the USWNT since Christie Welsh in 2000.
hat's off for @sophsssmith 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/CfZk81hn9W— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) April 9, 2022
hat's off for @sophsssmith 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/CfZk81hn9W
In total, the U.S. recorded 17 shots on goal and held a 73 percent possession advantage. Uzbekistan’s lone shot on goal — a deflection off Aziza Norboeva’s thigh off of a corner kick — resulted in a score to help them avoid a shutout.
The goal also ended the U.S.’s two-year home shutout streak at 1,632 minutes. The last time the USWNT allowed a goal at home was March 11, 2020.
“As much as I hate it, I love it,” head coach Vlatko Andonovski said of Uzbekistan’s goal. “Because if I have to get scored on … I’m glad it happened now and hopefully, this will give us an opportunity to fix it before we go into qualifiers.”
Jaelin Howell (64th minute) and Ashley Sanchez (90th) recorded their first career USWNT goals in the win. Also getting on the scoresheet were Andi Sullivan, Mallory Pugh, Catarina Macario and Ashley Hatch.
The USWNT closes out the friendly series against Uzbekistan on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.