U.S. U-18 Women’s National Team defeats England 3-1 in friendly

CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team defeated its counterparts from England, 3-1, as forward Summer Yates scored an early goal followed by a brace from forward Sophia Smith. The match was played at St. George’s Park, England’s National Training Center.

The USA will also play Norway on Feb. 21 at St. George’s Park and then finish with another match against England on Feb. 25 that will be played at New Bucks Head in Wellington, which is the stadium for AFC Telford United.

In a match that featured 40-minute halves, the USA started quickly as Yates received a pass just outside the penalty box and dribbled past two players before sliding her shot just under the goalkeeper’s hand into the left side of the net to give the USA the lead after just four minutes.

+READ: Sophia Smith hat trick paces U.S. U-18 WNT in 5-0 win over Norway

Smith doubled the lead in the 12^th minute after she stole the ball from the defender and took a hard shot that deflected off and an England defender and caromed into the net before the goalkeeper could react.

Brianna Martinez set up Smith’s second goal after stealing the ball from a defender. She then found Smith in front of the goal for a first-time finish in the 33^rd minute.

England pulled a goal back in the 63^rd minute off a U.S. turnover and Jess Ngunga ripped a shot that U.S. goalkeeper Hensley Hancuff got a hand on, but couldn’t keep out of the net.

This group of players is at the start of a two-year cycle as U-18s before transitioning to U-20s in 2019, and will form the core of the group that will eventually attempt to qualify for the 2020 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

–  U.S. U-18 Women’s National Team Match Report –

Match: USA vs. England
Date: Sunday, February 19
Competition: Friendly Tournament
Venue: St. Georges Park; Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Attendance: 300
Weather: 45 degrees, cloudy 

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F
USA                             3          0          3
ENG                            0          1          1

USA – Summer Yates                                     4th minute
USA – Sophia Smith                                        12
USA – Sophia Smith (Brianna Martinez)         33
ENG – Jess Ngunga                                      63

Lineups:
USA: 1-Hensley Hancuff; 5-Maycee Bell, 4-Maddie Desiano, 3-Brianna Martinez (15-Sarah Piper, 41), 23-Shae Holmes, 6-Maddie Vergura (capt.) (8-Cori Dyke, 41), 7-Jenna Nighswonger, 10-Summer Yates (18-Kali Trevithick, 66), 13-Rachel Jones (11-Emaly Vatne, 41), 19-Alexa Spaanstra (21-Olivia Wingate, 61), 9-Sophia Smith (24-Ashlynn Serepca, 41)
Subs Not Used: 14-Cassie Hiatt, 16-Natalie Viggiano, 22-Meagan McClelland
Head Coach: April Heinrichs

ENG: 1-Hannah Hampton; 3-Poppy Pattinson (15, Grace Neville, 65), 4-Aimee Palmer, 5-Esme Morgan, 6-Shannon Cooke, 7-Jess Ngunga, 8-Miri Taylor (17, Skye Bacon, 65), 9-Nicole Douglas (19-Gabby Ravenscroft, 71), 10-Amy Rodgers (16-Beth O’Donnell, 77), 11-Lauren Hemp (capt.) (18-Hana Lalani, 77), 12-Meg Boydell
Subs Not Used: 2-Katherine Turner, 13-Lucy Thomas, 14-Olivia Smith, 19-Gabby Ravenscroft, 20-Mia Cinque, 22-Emily Ramsey
Head Coach: John Griffiths

Stats Summary: USA / ENG
Shots: 14 / 9
Shots on Goal: 7 / 4
Saves:3 / 4
Corner Kicks: 7 / 2
Fouls: 8 / 9
Offside: 2 / 0

Misconduct Summary:
None

Officials: Stacey Pearson
Referee: George Enever
Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Smith
Assistant Referee 2: Anthony Wingate