USWNT beats Ireland 1-0, but has plenty of unanswered questions

Heavy rotation didn’t necessarily lead to answers for the USWNT

The U.S. women’s national team’s final match before naming their 2023 World Cup roster ended in a win, but may have left them with more questions than answers.

A 1-0 win over Ireland, courtesy of a 50-plus yard Alana Cook service floating into the back of the net, saw the USWNT keep goalkeeper Casey Murphy unbothered, but also saw them create few chances against a dogged opponent.

Vlatko Andonovski made six changes to the side that won the first meeting between the sides on Saturday, including a first-ever USWNT start for 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson (who was called in to replace the injured Mallory Swanson).

In its first appearance at the newly-opened CityPark, U.S. Soccer held a ceremony honoring St. Louis native Becky Sauerbrunn for passing the 200-cap milestone in 2022. Clearly they had more than that on their minds, as an early corner kick routine saw the veteran center back — who has never scored a USWNT goal — flashed into the area from nowhere.

Her free header had goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan beat, but it clipped the crossbar, allowing Ireland to escape.

From there, a half of few chances took hold, with Ireland playing the USWNT evenly. Thompson had the best moment to score, but opted to pass instead, with Sophia Smith ending up putting the ball into the stands.

However, the famed luck of the Irish completely vanished as the USWNT took the lead on an utterly bizarre 43rd minute goal. Cook looked to recycle the ball after a set piece, and she opted to float a long ball in for Lindsey Horan.

Cook over-hit her service, but it ended up being a perfect mistake: it eluded Horan, and Brosnan, and gave the OL Reign defender her first-ever USWNT goal (and on her birthday, no less).

Thompson nearly added a second as the USWNT got a rare moment to attack in transition, but Brosnan snagged the ball off her feet after some inspiration from Trinity Rodman and Ashley Sanchez opened the game up. Generally though, Ireland’s discipline playing out of a 5-4-1 formation again gave the U.S. plenty of difficult questions.

Ashley Hatch showed some strength in the 79th minute, holding a defender and attempting to scoop a shot on the turn over Bronson, but her effort landed on the roof of the net.

Ireland nearly sneaked a late equalizer not long afterward, with Kyra Carusa running onto Denise O’Sullivan’s through ball and poking a shot past Tierna Davidson that skipped a foot or so wide of Casey Murphy’s goal.

The USWNT got to simulate some game-specific moves they may well use at the World Cup, including a late-game move into a 5-4-1 of their own, but the lack of genuine chances left them needing to buckle down to secure the win, instead of already having the game in hand.

The USWNT will name its 23-player World Cup roster shortly before a July 9 send-off match in San Jose, where they’ll face Wales.

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