U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team defeats England 2-1 in friendly

BURTON-UPON-TRENT, England (Via U.S. Soccer)– The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team defeated its counterparts from England 2-1 in a friendly match at St. George’s Park, England’s National Team Training Center. Civana Kuhlman converted a penalty kick just before halftime and Ashley Sanchez bagged the eventual game winner in the 58^th minute.

The match was the first of four games in Europe for the U-20 WNT, who will play England again on July 7 before traveling to Germany for two games against the Germany U-20 WNT that will take place on July 10 and July 12 in Rheine.

The USA went up 1-0 after Sanchez was taken down in the box by England defender Sam Tierney. Kuhlmann stepped up and blasted her spot kick into the top corner to give the USA a 1-0 lead in the 42^nd minute. It was Kuhlmann’s third international goal in six U-20 caps.

The USA doubled the score after a beautiful run from forward Sophia Smith took her past two defenders to the end line and she crossed back into the middle of the penalty box where Viviana Villacorta let the ball run through her legs for Sanchez. Running just inside the 18-yard line, Sanchez connected on her first touch with a right-footed driven shot that went low into the left corner.

The goal for Sanchez, who was a part of the last U-20 WNT cycle, was her sixth in 17 U-20 caps.

England pulled a goal back in the 74^th minute on a penalty kick of its own as forward Georgia Stanway scored, but the USA, which out-shot England 18-6, held the lead for the final 16 minutes plus stoppage to earn the win.

The U-20 WNT is midway through the first year of a two-year cycle with the focus on qualifying for the next U-20 Women’s World Cup.

– U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team Match Report –

Match: United States U-20 WNT vs. England U-20 WNT
Date: July 5, 2017
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: St. Georges Park; Burton-upon-Trent, United Kingdom
Weather: 81 degrees; sunny

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

USA – Civana Kuhlmann (penalty kick)          42^nd minute
USA – Ashley Sanchez (Sophia Smith)          58
ENG – Georgia Stanway (penalty kick)         74

Lineups:
USA: 1-Laurel Ivory; 5-Samantha Hiatt, 3-Tierna Davidson (capt.), 2-Tara McKeown, 6-Jaelin Howell, 17-Emily Fox (13-Isabel Rodriguez, 69), 10-Viviana Villacorta (25-Taylor Kornieck, 60), 11-Brianna Pinto (16-Zoe Morse, 87), 7-Civana Kuhlmann (21-Abigail Kim, 69), 23-Ashley Sanchez (19-Kelsey Turnbow, 60), 9-Sophia Smith
Subs Not Used: 4-Naomi Girma, 12-Brooke Heinsohn, 14-Karlie Paschall, 15-Samantha Coffey, 18-Parker Goins, 20-Arlie Jones, 22-Mandy McGlynn, 24-Sophia Serafin
Head Coach: Jitka Klimkova

ENG: 1-Sandy Maclver (13-Sian Rogers, 76); 5-Anna Patten (16-Lotte Wubben Moy, 28), 6-Sam Tierney (23-Grace Fick, 69), 3-Taylor Hinds, 14-Georgia Allen (12-Zoe Cross, 62), 4-Mollie Rouse, 2-Mayumi Pacheco (capt.), 7-Chloe Kelly (15-Alessia Russo, 62), 11-Ronsola Babajide (17-Niamh Charles, 62), 9-Charlie Wellings (18-Ellie Brazil, 62), 10-Georgia Stanway
Subs Not Used: 8-Chloe Peplow, 19-Rianna Dean, 20-Danielle Brown, 21-Ella Toone, 22-Ellie Roebuck, 24-Megan Finnigan
Head Coach: Mo Marley

Stats Summary: USA / ENG
Shots: 18 / 6
Shots on Goal: 8 / 4
Saves: 3 / 6
Corner Kicks: 4 / 3
Fouls: 7 / 8
Offside: 2 / 1

Misconduct Summary:
None