The USWNT sealed the deal on Friday, silencing Japan 3-0 to return to league play with a 2-1 friendly series win.

All three goals came in the second half. Defender Naomi Girma broke the stalemate off a corner kick, before midfielder Rose Lavelle doubled the lead on a Trinity Rodman assist. Then, defender Kennedy Wesley subsequently polished things off with her first-ever senior team goal.

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“I think you could feel that there was a goal coming,” Wesley said postgame. “We had a lot of good chances... The team has been working so hard to wrap this camp up on a good note and show all the details that we have been working on, so it was a great showing from the group.”

“I think we’ve been really clear about what’s important to us, the process is always of the highest order,” said US manager Emma Hayes. “Have we made progress in these three games? A million percent.”

Friday’s lineup drew from the previous starting XIs: veterans coming off a win and a young squad smarting from a loss. The team managed to effectively hold possession while generating attacking power against an organized Japan.

Defender Tierna Davidson earned her first start of the series as she works her way back from last year’s ACL tear. Up front, Rodman teamed up with Alyssa Thompson and Sophia Wilson to form another magnetic partnership.

“You can’t become elite without rehearsal, failure, and learning — it doesn’t go in a straight line,” Hayes continued. “Of course I want to win every game, but not at the expense of what we’re trying to build.”

USWNT Rumored to Face Brazil in June Friendly

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The USWNT is getting the band back together this October, as manager Emma Hayes tapped a number of veteran faces in a 26-player roster for the team's upcoming three international friendlies on Wednesday morning.

The team's European-based players are stepping back into the spotlight, after Hayes chose to rest stars Lindsey Heaps, Lily Yohannes, Emily Fox, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, and Catarina Macario during the summer.

However, sidelined Chelsea defender Naomi Girma will sit this one out as she continues to recover from a calf injury.

The roster also highlights the return of favorites Trinity Rodman, Rose Lavelle, and Jaedyn Shaw, as Hayes also calls up 24-year-old San Diego Wave defender Kennedy Wesley for the first time.

As next fall's qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup quickly approach, Hayes is narrowing the field from her previous developmentally focused roster-building strategy.

"I think this was the one camp I had to make some really hard decisions, and that's the place I wanted to be in," Hayes told reporters on Wednesday morning. "It's the build for [World Cup] qualification for next year."

With an average age of 24.6, the latest squad reflects the US's youth movement, though Lavelle's return helps boost the average international experience from 18.4 caps in this summer's USWNT roster to 27.3 appearances on Hayes's October lineup.

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The October 2025 USWNT roster

How to watch the October USWNT friendlies

The world No. 2 USWNT will first take on No. 23 Portugal at 7 PM ET on October 23rd and at 4 PM ET on the 26th, before closing out the international window against No. 33 New Zealand at 8 PM ET on October 29th.

All three friendlies will air live on TNT.