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Last time the USWNT faced Canada just over a month ago in the inaugural W Gold Cup Semifinal, the two teams fought through a monsoon at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego with the Americans emerging victorious in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw in regulation.
This time, the field was playable, but the full-time result was no different as the two sides headed to penalties level at two goals apiece. As if written in the stars, Alyssa Naeher replicated her heroic W Gold Cup performance to win the United States its fifth-consecutive SheBelieves title.
Contrary to the tournament opener, the USWNT began on the front foot in Columbus with a slower start to the match. Rather than growing into the game as they did against Japan, however, Canada gained a foothold as the opening half progressed. The Americans’ 63% possession in the first stanza was heavily stat-padded by passes between the central defenders while Canada did a stellar job of denying entry into midfield before going direct whenever they won the ball.
Canada’s goal came from a direct ball as such which Naeher curiously came out to the edge of her box to challenge. Failing to win the ball, she left her net open for Canada to pass the ball into the back of. Despite playing the majority of the half in a defensive structure, Canada went into halftime with more shots, more shots on target, and a 1-0 lead.
Part of the issue for the USWNT was a lack of ball progression through midfield, limiting creativity further up the pitch. Interim head coach Twila Kilgore adjusting to a starting double pivot of Sam Coffey and Emily Sonnett was likely to blame. Luckily Kilgore recognized her mistake, substituting Coffey at halftime for Mallory Swanson, returning Lindsey Horan to the double pivot alongside Sonnett and Shaw into the #10 position that she played against Japan. Immediately, the game changed.
Within minutes of the second-half kickoff, Shaw assisted the equalizer. Of course, Sophia Smith deserves most of the credit for her perfectly placed finish from the top of the box.
“Just a class finish from Soph [Smith] and I am just really proud of her,” praised Kilgore. “She can play multiple positions. She can score a variety of different goals and she’s doing great.”
As the Americans settled into their more comfortable positions, the benefits of Kilgore’s halftime change became clear as day. Horan’s natural tendency to push forward coupled with her keen eye for a line-breaking pass spurred the USWNT onto a 2-1 lead in the 68th minute.
“The first goal is just class. Sometimes individuals do special things but also there’s a big team concept there. We played a ball over the top, won a few throw-ins, and pinned them back,” Kilgore pointed out. “The second goal was an amazing team goal.”
The second goal began when Horan picked up the ball in a deep-lying position, immediately breaking the lines to Jaedyn Shaw who had found space in the center circle. Connecting play, the 19-year-old broke the next line with a through ball towards Trinity Rodman who unselfishly slid an assist into the path of Smith for her brace, securing SheBelieves Cup MVP in the process. Directly up the gut of Canada, the USWNT tore their northern neighbors apart with ease due to Horan dropping deeper to break the lines and Shaw searching for gaps in her favorite #10 position.
“I thought once we sorted out right after halftime where our pocket players were in making sure that we consistently had players in the pocket the game changed for us. And that just comes down to basically creating our shape and getting into our shape as quickly as possible and then being dynamic in it.
Unfortunately for the United States, as they showed in the recent W Gold Cup, Canada is a difficult team to put away. Aided by a soft penalty call on Crystal Dunn without VAR to intervene, Adriana Leon matched Smith with a brace of her own to equalize in the 85th minute.
As opposed to the W Gold Cup, however, the SheBelieves Cup does not employ extra time due to its friendly nature. So instead of heading to penalties after 120 minutes as these sides did just over a month ago in the W Gold Cup Semifinal, the SheBelieves Cup Final went straight to penalties at the conclusion of full-time.
In San Diego, Naeher saved three penalties, scored her own, and secured the victory for the United States within four shootout rounds. In Columbus, saving three penalties, scoring her own, and securing the victory for the United States took her as many as seven rounds, but of course, she came up with the goods once again. Look up the definition of hero in the dictionary and you’ll see a picture of Alyssa Naeher.
For the very last time under the interim leadership of Twila Kilgore (who finishes with a 10-1-3 record as interim head coach), the USWNT put their grit and resilience on display, coming back from a first-half deficit to lift their 7th SheBelieves title in the tournament’s nine editions.
Up next; the Emma Hayes era begins.
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