Ally Sentnor’s goal lifted the U.S. women’s national team to a 1-0 victory over Canada in soggy Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday night to put the Americans in position to win the SheBelieves Cup.
Sentnor scored from a corner kick by Rose Lavelle in the 55th minute when she settled the ball and on her second touch whipped a shot from 12 yards.
The U.S. is 2-0 with six points and needs only a point in the final match to clinch the Americans’ eighth title in 11 years of the tournament. Canada (1-1) and Colombia (1-1) each have three points while Argentina is winless after falling 1-0 to Colombia earlier Wednesday.
On Saturday in Harrison, N.J., Canada plays Argentina in the early match and the U.S. goes against Colombia in the tournament finale.
U.S. coach Emma Hayes made 10 changes from the 2-0 victory over Argentina on Sunday. The lone holdover was defender Gisele Thompson, who played behind her midfielder sister Alyssa Thompson on the left side.
This was the third time the Thompsons started a USWNT match together and fifth time they played in the same match.
They nearly gave the U.S. the lead going into the break. Gisele found Alyssa on an overlap and she moved toward the goal before unleashing a shot from outside the box that changed direction after being deflected by a Canadian player.
Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan made the adjustment for a stretching save with her right hand at the left post and was able to push the ball out of play for her one save of the first half. Phallon Tullis-Joyce also had one for the Americans.
In the second half, Sheridan twice denied Alyssa Thompson’s quest to increase the lead.
The U.S. finished with 18 shot attempts, four on goal, while Canada had 14 and one. The Americans dominated possession (65.5%) and took more corner kicks (11-2), while their opponents had more fouls (14-7) and yellow cards (2-0).
The U.S. had its five-year run titles ended last season by Japan. France won in 2017 and England was the champion in 2019.
Of the two Ohioans on the roster, Cincinnati’s Lavelle started. Emma Sears, from the Columbus suburb of Dublin and an Ohio State product, did not start after assisting on the winning goal against Canada. Sears entered in the 69th minute.
–Field Level Media
