USWNT hosting Japan in World Cup Final re-match Thursday in Colorado

USA vs. Japan
International Friendly
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park; Commerce City, Colo.
June 2, 2016

(Via U.S. Soccer) – With just four matches remaining before the U.S. Women’s National Team heads to Brazil for the 2016 Olympics, the first and second of those games will see the USA play its first matches against Japan since the historic 2015 Women’s World Cup Final.

That epic encounter took place on July 5, 2015 at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada and a bit less than 11 months later, the teams meet again on June 2 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. (7 p.m. MT on FS1). The USA and Japan will then will travel to Cleveland for the second leg of the two-game set on June 5 at FirstEnergy Stadium (12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2). U.S. head coach Jill Ellis will name 18 players to suit up for each match.

PLAYING FOR THE DOZEN: In Commerce City, Colo., the USA will be looking to tie its best start to a calendar year. In 1991 and 1997, the USA started the year 12-0-0, scoring 80 goals in 1991 through the first 12 games while allowing only one goal, and scoring 55 goals through the first 12 games in 1997 while allowing six.

SO FAR, SO GOOD: The USA is 11-0-0 in 2016, earning 10 shutouts while allowing just one goal. The USA started the year with a 5-0 win against Ireland and then won two tournaments early in the year – taking the title at the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February and the SheBelieves Cup in March. In the SheBelieves Cup, the USA defeated England 1-0 on March 3 with a spectacular late goal from Crystal Dunn, downed France 1-0 in stoppage time on March 6 off a brilliant pass from Mallory Pugh to Alex Morgan, who finished with class in the first minute of stoppage time, and then came from behind to defeat Germany, 2-1 , in a match it had to win to take the tournament title. The USA played two friendly matches against Olympic Group G opponent Colombia in April, winning 7-0 and 3-0 with seven different players scoring the 10 goals. After the matches against Japan, the USA will finish its Road to Rio with two Olympic send-off games, a meeting with South Africa for the first time in history on July 9 in Chicago and a soon to be announced match in late July before the team departs for Brazil.

SOLO CLOSES IN ON 100 SHUTOUTS: U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo comes into the June matches with 98 career shutouts, and is two away from becoming the first goalkeeper in U.S. history to reach the 100 mark. Solo has nine wins in 2016, eight by shutout, and also has a good chance to surpass her high of 13 shutouts in a calendar year achieved in another Olympic year, 2008. She earned her 89th career shutout against Germany in the semifinal of the WWC. It was the fifth straight World Cup clean sheet for the USA, and Solo’s 10th in World Cup play, tying the record for most by a U.S. goalkeeper and most in World Cup play with Brianna Scurry. Solo has earned shutouts against 28 different countries, including four against Japan.

LLOYD SIDELINED: CarliLloyd, the reigning FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year and U.S. Soccer Player of the Year, will miss the Japan matches as she continues to recover from a MLC strain suffered while playing for the Houston Dash on April 23. Lloyd, who has eight goals this year, tied for the team lead with Crystal Dunn and Alex Morgan, has scored six career goals against Japan, three in Olympic competition along with her famous hat trick in the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final. She is expected to be fit and healthy well in advance of the USA’s July Olympic send-off matches.

DENVER NATIVES COME HOME: The USA’s trip to Denver will bring three players back home as midfielder Lindsey Horan, forward Mallory Pugh and defender Jaelene Hinkle return to the area where they attended high school and played youth club soccer. Horan grew up in Golden and played for the Colorado Rush for many years before deciding to forego college for a professional career in France, where she played for three and a half seasons with Paris Saint-Germain before returning to the USA to play for the Portland Thorns this year. Pugh, who hails from Highland Ranch, turned 18 on April 29 and graduated from high school on May 18. She is still technically a member of Real Colorado, but has committed to attend UCLA in the fall. Hinkle also played for Real Colorado before heading to college at Texas Tech, and currently plays for the Western New York Flash.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN: Of the 24 players on the training camp roster for the Japan friendlies, 21 have been in with the U.S. team for most of this year. Added to the roster is rising college senior Rose Lavelle, who was a starter at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, goalkeeper Adrianna Franch, who is the starter for the undefeated Portland Thorns of the NWSL, and defender Gina Lewandowski, who earned her first cap last October against Brazil on the Victory Tour. She is coming off helping FC Bayern Munich win the German Women’s Bundesliga this past season. Portland Thorns midfielder Allie Long earned her second consecutive call-up after seeing action in both games against Colombia in April and scored twice on April 6 in East Hartford, Conn. which were her first two senior team goals. Alex Morgan and Morgan Brian missed both Colombia games with injuries, but both are healthy and available for selection.

U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (4): 24-Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC), 18-Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), 21-Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), 1- Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC)

DEFENDERS (9): 6-Whitney Engen (Boston Breakers), 19-Jaelene Hinkle (Western New York Flash), 8-Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), 7-Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), 11-Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), 26-Gina Lewandowski (FC Bayern Munich), 5- Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), 4- Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), 6- Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC)

MIDFIELDERS (7): 14-Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), 17-Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), 20-Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), 25-Rose Lavelle (Wisconsin), 23-Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC), 3-Samantha Mewis (Western NY Flash), 9- Heather O’Reilly (FC Kansas City)

FORWARDS (4): 16-Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), 13-Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), 12-Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars); 2- Mallory Pugh (Real Colorado)

• 2016 U.S. WNT SCHEDULE/RESULTS

USA SET TO FACE NEW ZEALAND, FRANCE AND COLOMBIA IN OLYMPIC GROUP PLAY:The field for the 12-team Olympic Football Tournament is a strong one featuring the USA and Canada from CONCACAF; Brazil and Colombia from South America; South Africa and Zimbabwe from Africa; New Zealand from Oceania; France, Germany and Sweden from Europe; and Australia and China PR from Asia. Japan and Nigeria, both regular participants in world championships, failed to qualify. The Final Draw for the Olympic Tournament was held on April 14 in Rio de Janeiro and the United States was drawn into Group G with New Zealand, France and Colombia for the tournament taking place from Aug. 3-19 at seven venues throughout Brazil. The U.S. will open Group G play on Aug. 3 – two days before the Olympic Opening Ceremonies – against New Zealand (7 p.m. local / 6 p.m. ET) at Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte. The USA will stay in Belo Horizonte – which is 270 miles north of Rio de Janeiro – to face France at Mineirão Stadium on Aug. 6 (5 p.m.local / 4 p.m. ET) and finish group play against Colombia on Aug. 9 (6 p.m. local / 6 p.m. ET) at the Amazônia Stadium in Manaus, the same arena in which the U.S. MNT tied Portugal 2-2 during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the furthest soccer venue from Rio (more than 1,700 miles). Drawn into Group E with Brazil were China PR, Sweden and South Africa. Group F will consist of Germany, Canada, the tournament’s only debutante Zimbabwe, and Australia.

2016 Olympic Schedule – U.S. Women’s National Team

U.S. All-Time Record vs. Group G Olympic Opponents

OLYMPIC COMPETITION FORMAT: The Olympic Women’s Football Tournament features 12 teams, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the quarterfinals along with the two best third-place teams. Should the U.S. advance to the second round by winning the group, it would meet a third-place team from Group E or F. If the USA finishes second in the group, it would face the first-place team from Group F. A third-place finish could mean a possible meeting with the first-place team from Group E.

U.S. TEAM AND ROSTER NOTES:

• The USA is 11-0-0 in 2016, having scored 42 goals while allowing one.
• Hope Solo has earned wins in nine of those games while Alyssa Naeher has the other two.
• Crystal Dunn has eight goals in 2016 and is tied with Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd for most on the team this year. Dunn has scored 12 goals in the last 18 games, which of course includes her five-goal outburst during Olympic Qualifying against Puerto Rico.
• Dunn, who was among the final 25 players vying for 2015 Women’s World Cup spots before the roster was trimmed to the 23 that represented the USA in Canada, returned to the team for the final seven games of the 2015 Victory Tour and started them all, scoring four goals with three assists. Since returning to the team on the Victory Tour, Dunn has started 14 games and has scored 12 goals with five assists, in addition to earning a penalty kick against Costa Rica on Feb. 10.
• Before the match against Puerto Rico, Dunn had scored five goals for the U.S. WNT. She doubled that total vs. Puerto Rico, notching five goals to tie a U.S. record for most goals scored in a match. She became the seventh U.S. player to achieve that feat. The other six were: Brandi Chastain (1991), Michelle Akers (1991), Tiffeny Milbrett (2002), Abby Wambach (2004), Amy Rodriguez (2012) and Sydney Leroux (2012). It was Dunn’s first multi-goal game for the WNT.
• Midfielder Allie Long earned her fifth cap in her third start and scored the first two goals of her international career on April 6 against Colombia. Long scored twice on headers. Her most recent start before that match was also at Pratt & Whitney Stadium, on June 19, 2014, in a 2-2 draw with France. She came off the bench on April 10 vs. Colombia to earn her sixth cap.
• Carli Lloyd will miss her first U.S. WNT games since the very beginning of 2014 when she did not play in the first match of the year, a 1-0 victory vs. Canada in Frisco, Texas on Jan. 31. Lloyd has scored 87 goal in her career and is just 13 from becoming the sixth player in U.S. history to score 100 or more.
• Tobin Heath scored her third goal of 2016, and 15th of her career, on a blistering volley vs. Colombia on April 6. Heath’s two goals in the February Olympic Qualifying tournament were her first since the Women’s World Cup Final and were remarkably similar, both coming off spinning left-footed blasts after making runs into the box from the right side and both coming off excellent and similar passes from Pugh who had made dynamic runs down the left side.
• Christen Press scored in both games against Colombia, upping her total to 33 in 66 games and moving her past Lindsay Tarpley into 16th place on the U.S. WNT all-time goals list. She is averaging a goal for every two games she plays (0.50 goals per game) for the WNT.
• Julie Johnston’s two goals against Colombia on April 10 upped her career total to seven, all coming off set plays. It was her first multi-goal game for the USA.
• Against Canada on Feb. 21 in the championship game of the Olympic Qualifying tournament, U.S. co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn became the 35th U.S. female player to hit 100 caps. She also picked up the third assist of her career, lofting a perfect pass to Lindsey Horan to score off a header.
• InJan. 23, Alex Morgan became the 34th female player in U.S. history to play 100 times for her country, and she scored her 57th goal. Morgan debuted for the USA on Oct. 2, 2010, vs. China. Morgan has an even better average that Press scoring 0.59 goals per game in her international career. She now has 64 in 108 caps.
• Morgan’s goal 12 seconds into the match against Costa Rica on Feb. 10 was the earliest in U.S. WNT history. She also scored the latest goal in U.S. history, tallying after 122 and 22 seconds against Canada in the semifinal of the 2012 Olympics. It was also the quickest in CONCACAF qualifying history, besting Abby Wambach (35 seconds vs. Dominican Republic on Jan. 20, 2012).
• Morgan scored three goals in the Olympic Qualifying semifinal match against Trinidad & Tobago on Feb. 19. It was her third career hat trick and the first since Nov. 28, 2012 against Ireland.
• After earning her first two caps at the 2013 Algarve Cup, now 22-year-old Lindsey Horan got her first three starts at the end of last year, switching positions to holding midfielder where she excelled in the Olympic Qualifying tournament and the SheBelieves Cup. Horan, who was the first American female player to skip college and head overseas to play professionally, left for Europe in July of 2012 after she graduated from high school and spent more than three years in France with Paris Saint-Germain. She scored her first WNT goal against T&T at the end of last year and scored her second to break open a tight match against Canada in the championship of Olympic Qualifying.
• Twenty-three-year old Samantha Mewis made her debut at the 2014 Algarve Cup, played in one match last year and has six caps this year while scoring her first WNT goal during Olympic Qualifying. She scored her second WNT goal, which was the game-winner, in a 2-1 victory against Germany to clinch the SheBelieves Cup title.
• Emily Sonnett, 22, earned her first cap on Oct. 25 against Brazil, playing on 90 minutes in the center of the defense, and has since earned eight more caps including five this year with three starts. She played the entire 90 minutes in the opening game of the SheBelieves Cup against England.
• Mallory Pugh achieved a rare feat of helping two different teams qualify for a world championship in the same cycle. Last December, she captained the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team to a 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup berth and the CONCACAF title at the qualifying tournament in Honduras. Pugh was called up by Jill Ellis for the USA’s January training camp this year, making her one of the youngest field players called into the full U.S. WNT in the past 15 years. Pugh was a starter at the age of 16 in the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada and will compete in the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea at the end of the year.
• Pugh scored in her senior team debut (the 19th U.S. WNT player to score in her first cap) on Jan. 23 vs. Ireland at 17 years, 8 months and 25 days old, becoming the youngest player to debut for the U.S. in the last 11 years.
• Pugh earned her second cap with the WNT on Feb. 10, coming on for Crystal Dunn in the 68th minute against Costa Rica in her first Olympic qualifying match and thus became the youngest female player in WNT history to play in an Olympic Qualifying match at 17 years, 9 months and 12 days old.
• Pugh earned her first start against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15 and picked up her first WNT assist while also creating a PR own goal. She has played in all 11 games this year, starting seven, including seven of the last eight matches, while scoring two goals and picking up five assists, tied for best on the team with Carli Lloyd.
• Pugh, who turned 18 on April 29, is fifth all-time for most U.S. caps before the age of 18 (11). She is third for most goals before the age of 18 (2), fourth in most starts before the age of 18 (7) and first for most assists before the age of 18 (5).
• Six players on the training camp roster have played 100 times or more for the USA, led by Heather O’Reilly’s 229 caps. Hope Solo has 194 followed by Heath’s 116, Morgan with 108 and Becky Sauerbrunn with 105.
• Of the 24 players on the roster, five players do not have an international goal: defenders Emily Sonnett, Becky Sauerbrunn, Gina Lewandowski (who has one cap) and Jaelene Hinkle, and uncapped midfielder Rose Lavelle.
• Lloyd’s 18 goals in 2015 were a career high for her in a calendar year and eight more than her closest teammate Press, who had 10. With eight goals in the first 10 games, Lloyd is tied with Crystal Dunn and Alex Morgan.
• Lloyd has scored 24 goals in the USA’s last 24 matches starting with the Round of 16 game at the WWC, 20 of them coming while playing in a withdrawn forward position

IN THE RECORD BOOKS:

• Carli Lloyd is the 10th woman in U.S. history to reach 200 caps, achieving the feat at the WWC quarterfinal match against China PR on June 26. She is the third active player to reach that mark and 10th overall American. Christie Rampone and Heather O’Reilly are the other two. She also became the third player in U.S. history to score in her 200th appearance. Wambach and O’Reilly are the other two.
• Hope Solo earned her 177th cap against Japan in the World Cup Final on July 5. With 194 caps, she is the leader for caps by a goalkeeper in U.S. history and is six away from becoming the first goalkeeper in U.S. and world history to hit 200, which she will likely reach in the Olympics. Briana Scurry earned 173 caps in her career (1994-2008).
• Solo has the most starts by a WNT goalkeeper with 187 and is in 8th place on the WNT’s all-time starts list behind Lloyd, who has moved into seventh place, passing Kate Markgraf, with 192.
• Solo has 148 goalkeeper wins and is the all-time leader in wins for a goalkeeper in U.S. history. Brian Scurry had 133 during her career (1994-2008).
• Lloyd is the highest active goal scorer in U.S. history with the players ahead of her, Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Kristine Lilly, Tiffeny Milbrett and Michelle Akers all retired.
• Lloyd is in eighth place on the USA’s all-time caps with 222.
• With her two assists against Colombia on April 6, Lloyd moved into a tie for ninth place on the U.S. all-time assist list with Aly Wagner at 42 each.
• Lloyd is in sixth place on the U.S. WNT’s all-time goal scoring list. Now with 87 goals, she is the highest-scoring midfielder in U.S. history even though she has scored 20 of her last 24 goals playing as more of a withdrawn forward. She scored her first two goals in the 2015 World Cup playing center-midfield; scored from the penalty spot while playing center-midfield against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15; and scored against Colombia on April 6 while also playing center-midfield.
• With her game-winning goal against England on Feb. 13, 2015, Morgan became the 10th player in U.S. history to score 50 or more goals. She now has 64 and is in eighth place on the USA’s all-time goal scoring list. Next up for Morgan is Cindy Parlow’s 75 career goals.
• Against France on March 6, Morgan Brian earned her 50th cap at the young age of 23. She became the 52nd female player in U.S. history to reach 50 caps. She currently has 51.
• Against France on March 6, Kelley O’Hara hit 75 caps, making her the 40th U.S. female player to hit that mark. With her 76th cap on March 9 vs. Germany, she moved past Sydney Leroux into 39th on the all-time caps list and now has 78 to go along with her two international goals.
• The USA continues to break city and state attendance marks. The crowd of 25,363 in Nashville for USA-France on March 6 set a new record for a U.S. WNT match in the state of Tennessee, breaking the previous mark of 21,535 that watched the USA play Costa Rica in Chattanooga on August 19, 2015. The 13,027 fans that came out to watch the USA play England on March 3, a weekday, during the SheBelieves Cup set a record for a crowd to watch the team in Tampa. The 13,501 fans that come out on March 9, also on a weekday, to watch the USA beat Germany in the SheBelieves Cup was also a record to watch the WNT in Boca Raton, Fla. The crowd of 21,792 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium onApril 6 for the match against Colombia set a new record for an all-women’s soccer event in Connecticut, besting the previous mark of 18,870 that watched the USA play Germany at the same venue on Oct. 23, 2012.

BY THE NUMBERS:
0.09 Goals per game the USA allowed in 2016
1 Numbers of players that made their WNT debut in 2016 (Pugh)
1 USA’s FIFA ranking
4 Number of players that made their WNT debut in 2015 (Hinkle, Lewandowski, Sonnett, McCaffrey)
3.82 Goals per game the USA scored in 2015
11 Number of different U.S. players to score a goal in 2016
13 Goals Carli Lloyd needs to reach 100
18 Players that will make the Olympic roster
98 Shutouts by Hope Solo, an all-time U.S. WNT record
99 Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Abby Wambach in her career
104 Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Alex Morgan in her career
130 Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Mia Hamm in her career

USA IN NWSL: About a third of the way into the 2016 NWSL season, here’s a look at the club statistics of the players on this U.S. WNT roster. The players missed last weekend’s games due to their WNT call-ups so all the players have played through Week 6 of the season, with Morgan Brian, Julie Johnston, Jaelene Hinkle and Carli Lloyd missing some games due to injury and Tobin Heath missing one due to a red card suspension. Hope Solo missed a game to attend a family funeral. Several U.S. WNT players are at the top of statistics charts. Christen Press, Lindsey Horan and Samantha Mewis are tied for the league lead (along with four other players) in goals with three each. Heath leads the league with five assists while Crystal Dunn is second with four. With two assists, Hinkle is tied for fifth in the league with two others. Press leads the league in shots with 27, followed by Dunn with 18. Allie Long is six with 17 and Alex Morgan is tied for seventh with two players, one of whom is Kelley O’Hara. Press is far and away the league leader in shots on goal with 22. Morgan is second with 10, while Mewis is tied for third with eight and Long and Horan are tied for seventh with seven. Alyssa Naeher is tied for the league lead in shutouts with four, but Ashlyn Harris (3) Hope Solo (2) and Adrianna Franch (2) are also among the league leaders.

2016 NWSL Regular Season Statistics Field Players

2016 NWSL Regular Season Statistics Goalkeepers

FOUR SCORE AND HEADED FOR RIO: The USA’s triumph at the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship in which it won all five games by shutouts, and out-scored its opposition 23-0, marked the fourth consecutive time the Americans have won the tournament. In 2012, the USA won the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Vancouver, B.C. (at the same stadium where it would win the Women’s World Cup three years later) and then went on to win the gold medal in London. In 2008, the USA won the tournament in Mexico and went on to win gold in Beijing. In 2004, the U.S. won the tournament in Costa Rica and went on to win gold in Athens, Greece. The U.S. qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Games as host and for the 2000 Sydney Games as a top-7 finisher at the 1999 Women’s World Cup. The WNT remains unbeaten in all-time CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying with an 18-0-1 record.

OLYMPIC QUALIFYING RECAP

• Against Canada on Feb. 21, the U.S. WNT extended its streak to 10 consecutive games in CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying without allowing a goal, dating back to the Final of the 2008 tournament when the U.S. tied Canada 1-1 on April 12, 2008 and went on to win in penalty kicks 6-5.
• Nineteen of the 20 players on the Olympic Qualifying roster saw action with seven players playing in all five games.
• Meghan Klingenberg played the most minutes in Olympic Qualifying with 384 out of 450, while Carli Lloyd played 380 and Alex Morgan played 379. Crystal Dunn led the team with six goals, while Morgan scored five and Carli Lloyd scored four. Morgan Brian and Mallory Pugh shared the team lead in assists over the five games with three each.
• The USA placed eight players on the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Best XI: Hope Solo, Kelley O’Hara, Becky Sauerbrunn, Lindsey Horan, Brian, Tobin Heath, Morgan and Lloyd.
• Additionally, three players won individual awards as Solo was awarded the Golden Glove, Brian the Golden Ball and Dunn the Golden Boot.
• Eleven players made their Olympic Qualifying this year in Alyssa Naeher, Emily Sonnett, Stephanie McCaffrey, Samantha Mewis, Jaelene Hinkle, Dunn, Horan, Julie Johnston, Pugh, Klingenberg and Christen Press.
• Six players scored the USA’s 23 goals in the tournament: Dunn (6), Morgan (5), Lloyd (4), Heath (2), Press (2), O’Hara (1), Horan (1) and Mewis (1). The USA benefited from an own goal vs. Puerto Rico.
• The USA scored three goals in a one minute and 56 second span during the second half against Puerto Rico from the 60th to the 62nd minute as Ashley Rivera scored an own goal, Dunn scored and then Press scored. It is believed to be the shortest time in which the U.S. WNT has ever scored three goals.
• Lloyd has scored 12 career goals in Olympic Qualifying, just two short of Abby Wambach’s WNT record of 14.