USWNT begins send-off series against Ireland on Mother’s Day

(Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Women’s National Team begins its three-game Send-Off Series leading into the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup when it faces the Republic of Ireland on May 10 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California, the new home of Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes. The match will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1 at 11:30 a.m. PT.

USA VS. IRELAND SERIES

• The U.S. has a 10-0-0 overall record against Ireland, and has outscored the Irish 37-1.
• The only goal Ireland has ever scored against the USA came on Oct. 20, 2004 during a 5-1 USA victory in Chicago, Illinois.
• Out of the 10 meetings between both sides, the USA has scored five goals in six of those games, including 5-0 victories in five of the six matches.
• The smallest margin of victory for the U.S. against the Irish came on Sept. 17, 2008 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, when the USA won the game 1-0 with a goal from Natasha Kai.
• The last matchup between both teams came on Dec. 1, 2012, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe scored in the first minute and then in the 38th, respectively, to help secure the 2-0 win and the 10th straight USA victory in the series between both teams. 

PERFECTION IN NORTHEN CAL: Despite this being the first game the USA will play in the newly opened Avaya Stadium, the team has played in San Jose six times before, all at Spartan Stadium, for a perfect 6-0-0 record. The WNT has outscored opponents 28-1 while in this northern California city and averaged 15,935 fans per game to establish an impeccable winning tradition that dates back to 1997. The USA has also won its two other games in Norcal, the 2-0 victory against Brazil in the 1999 Women’s World Cup semifinal in Palo Alto and a 4-1 win vs. New Zealand at Candlestick Park in 2013 in one of the last events at the famed stadium.

U.S. WNT SEND-OFF SERIES WILL CONTINUE IN SOCAL AND NJ: In the month of May, the USA will play just two more international matches before the Women’s World Cup kicks off on June 6 and the U.S. opens group play against Australia on June 8. Following the matchup against Ireland, the two remaining games will take the USWNT to the familiar surroundings of StubHub Center in Carson, California, on May 17 to face Mexico; and finally to Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, on May 30 to play the Korea Republic.

2015 LOOK BACK: The U.S. Women are coming off a dominating 4-0 victory against New Zealand on April 4 in their first domestic match of the year at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Earlier in the year, the WNT took home the trophy at the 2015 Algarve Cup in Portugal, where the Americans triumphed 2-0 against France in the championship game to win its 10th title at the annual tournament. The USA comes into the match against Ireland with a 5-1-1 overall record so far in 2015.

ONE NATION. ONE TEAM. 23 STORIES: Before the USA departs for Canada for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in June, U.S. Soccer has released its “One Nation. One Team. 23 Stories.” series, presented by Clorox. Sprinkled with humor, fun and heartfelt stories, the videos give fans insight into the players’ personalities, families, motivations, and some of the challenges they’ve experienced on the different roads they’ve traveled to earn the right to represent the United States in the ultimate competition for a soccer player.

GROUP D AWAITS: The U.S. Women’s National Team was drawn into Group D at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup where it will face Australia, Nigeria and Sweden. The seventh edition of the tournament takes place from June 6-July 5 in Canada. The U.S. opens the tournament against Australia on June 8 at Winnipeg Stadium, face Sweden on June 12 in Winnipeg, and finish Group D play against Nigeria on June 16 at BC Place in Vancouver. The USA, Nigeria and Sweden have competed in every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. 

2015 U.S. WNT SCHEDULE:

* Algarve Cup

U.S. Women’s World Cup Roster By Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ashlyn Harris (Washington Spirit), Alyssa Naeher (Boston Breakers), Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC)
DEFENDERS (8): Lori Chalupny (Chicago Red Stars), Whitney Engen (Western NY Flash), Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), Meghan Klingenberg (Houston Dash), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Shannon Boxx (Chicago Red Stars), Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lauren Holiday (FC Kansas City), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash),Heather O’Reilly (FC Kansas City), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC)
FORWARDS (5): Sydney Leroux (Western NY Flash), Alex Morgan (Portland Thorns FC),Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Amy Rodriguez (FC Kansas City), Abby Wambach(unattached)

U.S. ROSTER NOTES:

• On April 14, U.S. head coach Jill Ellis named the 23-player roster that will represent the USA at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. All 23 players were a part of the 25-player roster that was called up for the New Zealand game on April 4 and the 2015 Algarve Cup.
• The 23-player Women’s World Cup Team is the roster for all three Send-Off Series games.
• The USA will likely be without the services of Tobin Heath (hamstring) and Alex Morgan (bone bruise on her knee) for the first two Send-Off Series games. Neither injury is serious. The coaching and athletic training staff is being cautions with the two Portland Thorns players and both are expected to be fully fit for the Women’s World Cup.
• U.S. midfielder Megan Rapinoe became the 31st American female player to reach the century mark in caps against New Zealand on April 4. She will be honored for this achievement this Sunday, May 10 when the USA takes on Ireland.
• Rapinoe’s next goal would give her 30 for her career, making her the 13th U.S. female player to score 30 goals and tally 30 assists. She currently has 31 assists.
• Lori Chalupny has 99 caps and could be the 32nd player to reach 100 caps if she plays against Ireland.
• Chalupny scored against New Zealand, making it her first goal for the USA since she scored against the Republic of Ireland on Sept. 20, 2008.
• Meghan Klingenberg scored her second National Team goal on a long-range blast against New Zealand. Her first goal was a similar long-range effort that came against Haiti on Oct. 8, during Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament last year.
• Julie Johnston also scored her second National Team goal and second of 2015 against New Zealand. She scored her first goal at this year’s Algarve Cup final against France, also coming on a header from a set piece.
• Nine different players have scored for the USA in 2015: Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, Amy Rodriguez, Christen Press, Johnston, Klingenberg, Morgan Brian, Chalupny and Carli Lloyd.
• U.S. captain Christie Rampone is currently the second most-capped player in U.S. and world history with 304 appearances.
• Press was named NWSL Player of the Month for the month of April in the 2015 NWSL season after scoring four goals over two games and recording an assist to help Chicago remain in the top three of the standings with a 1-0-1 record going into Week 4 of the 2015 NWSL season. Press’ four goals in two games makes her as the league’s current goal leader, with all of the strikes coming in just 180 minutes of action.
• For Johnston (Santa Clara University), Press (Stanford) and Kelley O’Hara (Stanford) the game will represent a sort of homecoming due to the city of San Jose and Avaya Stadium’s close proximity to both college campuses.
• Press and O’Hara both won the Hermann Trophy, awarded annually to the top female soccer player in the country, and earned all-American honors while at Stanford.
• Becky Sauerbrunn is the only player on the roster to start and play every minute (630) of all seven matches for the USA this year. Alex Morgan has also started and seen action in all seven but has logged 565 minutes.
• Carli Lloyd was the only player to play all 450 minutes during the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship. She was named MVP of the tournament after scoring five goals.
• Lauren Holiday leads all U.S. players on the rosters in assists with four in 2015. Holiday was the 2014 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year.
• Morgan Brian, the USA’s youngest player at age 22, was the 2014 U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year. She was also named the 2013 and 2014 Hermann Trophy winner while playing for the University of Virginia.
• While Abby Wambach is the USA’s top scorer on the roster with 178 goals, Lloyd is next with 63 career international goals and Morgan has 51. Heather O’Reilly has scored 41.
• Christen Press’ four-goal performance against Argentina in Brazil last December was the ninth such game in U.S. history and second of 2014 after Wambach scored four times against Costa Rica in the final of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship. It was the first-career hat trick for Press.
• All nine NWSL clubs are represented on the Women’s World Cup roster. 

IN THE RECORD BOOKS:

• With three goals against Argentina on Dec. 18, Carli Lloyd upped her career total to 61 and moved into sole possession of seventh place on the U.S. WNT’s all-time goal scoring list, passing Shannon MacMillan who scored 60 goals in her career. Lloyd, now with 63 goals, is the highest-scoring player in U.S. history who has played exclusively as a midfielder.
• Heather O’Reilly is the ninth player to hit 200 caps in U.S. history after reaching the milestone against Korea DPR on March 12, 2014. Now with 217, she is seventh on the USA’s all-time list. Abby Wambach (239) and Christie Rampone (304) are the only active players ahead of her.
• O’Reilly is the second-youngest player to hit 200 caps for the USA. Lilly was 28 years, 9 months and 15 days old when she earned cap No. 200 on May 7, 2000. O’Reilly was 29 years, 2 months and 10 days old when she earned her 200th cap.
• O’Reilly is currently sixth all-time in assists with 52 and is 13th all-time in goals with 41.
• In addition to breaking Mia Hamm’s world scoring record, Wambach’s June 20, 2013,performance against the Korea Republic also made her the USA’s all-time leader in multiple-goal games with 39 for her career. She has since added four more and now sits at 43. She has 35 two-goal games, five hat tricks, two four-goal games and one five-goal game.
• Sydney Leroux is 15th on the all-time U.S. WNT goal scoring list with 33 goals.
• With her game-winning goal against England on Feb. 13, Alex Morgan became the 10th player in U.S. history to score 50 or more goals. She now has 51.
• Hope Solo boasts a U.S. record 82 career shutouts and has 167 caps with the USWNT, the second-most for a goalkeeper in U.S. history behind Brianna Scurry (173; 1994-2008.)
• Solo has the most starts by a WNT goalkeeper with a 161, surpassing Scurry’s 159 (from 1994-2008). Solo is in 10th place on the WNT’s all-time starts list surpassing Brandi Chastain (160 games from 1988-2004).

BY THE NUMBERS:
0.43           Goals per game the USA has allowed in 2015
2                USA’s FIFA ranking
1.71           Goals per game the USA scored in 2015
4                Number of players on the WWC from the Chicago Red Stars and FC Kansas City, most of any NWSL teams.
9                Number of different U.S. players to score a goal in 2015
8                Assists by Carli Lloyd to lead the team in 2014
20              Goals in 41 National Team games for Christen Press, a goal in slightly less than every two games
63              Goals by Lloyd, most ever for a WNT player who has played exclusively as a midfielder
82              Shutouts by Hope Solo, an all-time U.S. WNT record
82              Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Sydney Leroux in her career
96              Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Alex Morgan in her career
99              Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Abby Wambach in her career
112            U.S. victories when Wambach scores a goal (112-2-8 overall)
130            Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Mia Hamm in her career
304            Caps by Christie Rampone, second all-time to Kristine Lilly (352)

BY THE NUMBERS, WWC EDITION:
2                Number of players in U.S. history to be named to Women’s World Cup rosters for non-consecutive tournaments: Brandi Chastain (1991, 1999) and Lori Chalupny (2007, 2015)

IN FOCUS: REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Current FIFA World Ranking: 31
2015 Women’s World Cup Qualifying: Finished third in Group 1 of the 2015 UEFA Qualifying Championship (5-3-2; 13 GF, 9 GA) behind Germany and Russia
Women’s World Cup Finals Appearances: None
Record vs. USA: 0-10-0
Head Coach: Sue Ronan
Championship Honors: None
Leading Women’s World Cup Qualifying Scorers: Denise O’Sullivan (3), Fiona O’Sullivan (3), Stephanie Roche (2), Julie-Ann Russell (2)
Key Players: Emma Byrne (Arsenal), Niamh Fahey (Chelsea), Louise Quinn (Eskilstuna United), Sophie Perry (Brighton & Hove Albion), Diane Caldwell (Avaldsnes IL)

IRELAND ROSTER NOTES

• Ireland will be without two top players for the match against the USA in Emma Byrne and Niamh Fahey as they both have commitments with their clubs oversees. They will however, be available to play against Haiti, who Ireland will face on May 14 in Florida.
• Forward Fiona O’Sullivan hails from California and played college soccer at the University of San Francisco. She is currently playing with Notts County in England. Forward Stephanie Roche (Houston Dash) and defender Megan Campbell (Florida State), she of the mammoth long throw-in, are currently playing in the USA.
• Roach was the runner-up for the Puskas Award in 2014, FIFA’s annual award for the best goal of the year. The goal has 1.8 million hits on YouTube. She also scored another crackerthis year against Costa Rica.
• Late roster add Charlotte McCormack, who plays college soccer at Clayton State University, is a back-up goalkeeper on the roster.
• Also on the roster is Continental Tyres Women’s National League Player of the Year, Aine O’Gorman who just last month earned her 75th cap with the team in a match against Spain.
• Ireland’s head coach, Sue Ronan is bringing five uncapped players to the roster set to face the USA. These include three members of the Wexford Youths squad that recently won the Continental Tyres Women’s National League for the first time. The trio includes: Jessica Gleeson, Nocla Sinnot and Women’s National League Young Player of the Year, Ciara Rossiter. They have all played at the youth level for Ireland.
• Midfielder Emma Hansberry, whose last inclusion in an Ireland roster was for the 2014 Cyprus Cup, was also called in by Ronan to be available for the USA match. 

LAST TIME
On the field for the USA vs. IRE:
Dec. 1, 2012 – University of Phoenix Stadium; Glendale, Arizona

USA                2          Morgan 1, Rapinoe 38
IRE                 0     

Lineups
USA: 1-Hope Solo (21-Jill Loyden, 22; 18-Nicole Barnhart, 46); 2-Heather Mitts (3-Christie Rampone, 46), 16-Rachel Buehler, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 6-Amy LePeilbet; 15-Megan Rapinoe (8-Amy Rodriguez, 59), 7-Shannon Boxx, 10-Carli Lloyd, 12-Lauren Cheney; 13-Alex Morgan (11-Sydney Leroux, 59), 14-Abby Wambach (capt.)
Subs Not Used: 5-Kelley O’Hara
Head coach: Jill Ellis

IRL: 1-Emma Byrne; 7-Mary Therese McDonnell, 3-Megan Campbell, 4-Louise Quinn, 14-Shannon McDonnell; 11-Aine O’Gorman, 6-Niamh Fahey, 18-Ciara Grant (2-Sophie Perry, 46), 10-Julie Ann Russell (15-Ruesha Littlejohn, 58), 13-Diane Caldwell; 12-Denise O’Sullivan (17-Shannon Smyth, 46)
Subs Not Used: 5-Yvonne Tracey, 8-Meabh De Burca, 16-Eve Gbadana
Head coach: Sue Ronan