Morgan Scores 100th Goal as WNT Beat Australia 5-3

COMMERCE CITY, Colorado (April 4, 2019) – The U.S. Women’s National Team defeated world No. 6 Australia, 5-3 on Thursday night in front of 17,264 fans at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park as Alex Morgan scored the 100^th goal of her career and Mallory Pugh notched two goals in front of her hometown crowd.

The USA had more chances in the first half and capitalized early on when Morgan opened the scoring in the 14th minute, joining six other American women in the exclusive 100-goal club. Australia’s Lisa De Vanna tied it up at 1-1 in the 29th minute, a score line the teams took into halftime.

In the second half, Australia and the USA combined for six goals, with Australia jumping to a 2-1 lead in the 47^th minute courtesy of Caitlin Foord. The USA quickly leveled minutes later when Tobin Heath headed home the equalizer before Megan Rapinoe and Pugh added two more to distance the U.S. from The Matildas. Sam Kerr cut the U.S. lead to one with 10 minutes remaining in regulation, but Pugh put the cherry on top of the U.S. win with her second goal of the game just before the final whistle.

Up Next: The WNT heads to Southern California to play Belgium on Sunday, April 7 (6 p.m. PT, ESPN2) at Banc of California Stadium in downtown Los Angeles. Following that match, players will return to their NWSL clubs before gathering in early May to embark on its three-game Send-Off Series, Presented by Volpi Foods. The USA will face South Africa on May 12 in Santa Clara, California at Levi’s Stadium; continue on to St. Louis to take on New Zealand at Busch Stadium on May 16 and finish up the Send-Off Series vs. Mexico at Red Bull Arena on May 26 in Harrison, N.J.

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Goal Scoring Rundown:
USA – Alex Morgan (Crystal Dunn), 14th: Dunn lofted a nice ball from the back into the USA’s attacking third where Morgan received the ball on the run, controlled it well and took it past Ellie Carpenter with a cut to the inside. She then shot before Alanna Kennedy and Gemma Simon could recover, sliding to push her right-footed shot into the right side of the net for her 100th international goal. USA 1, AUS 0. WATCH.

AUS – Lisa De Vanna (Caitlin Foord), 29th minute: Foord ran the ball down the middle pausing about 25 yards out before passing it to De Vanna, who was incoming on the left flank towards the box. De Vanna took one touch and let the ball roll a little before crushing a left-footed shot into the upper right corner of the net to level the match. USA 1, AUS 1. WATCH.

AUS – Caitlin Foord (Sam Kerr), 47th minute: Kerr got the ball to Foord at the top of the box, with Foord showing off some nice moves and spinning to evade Samantha Mewis’ coverage before shooting from just inside 18-yards into the far right side netting to give Australia the early lead in the second half. USA 1, AUS 2. WATCH.

USA – Tobin Heath (Emily Sonnett), 53rd minute: Standing outside of the box on the right side, Sonnett crossed the ball to the opposite end, where Heath jumped and headed it to the back of the net for the second-half equalizer. USA 2, AUS 2. WATCH.

USA – Megan Rapinoe, 61st minute: Samantha Mewis showed some excellent play on the right side of the box, beating three defenders before crossing it into the box where it was flicked by an Australian defender. Rapinoe collected the ball and took a few touches before shooting through traffic from the top of the box for the third U.S. goal of the game. USA 3, AUS 2. WATCH.

USA – Mallory Pugh (Emily Sonnett), 67th: Morgan and Sonnett combined for a quick one-two pass inside the box, with Sonnett then moving the ball to Pugh, who finished from close range to the far corner after having subbed into the game just 37 seconds before. USA 4, AUS 2. WATCH.

AUS – Sam Kerr (Haley Raso), 81st minute: Raso sent a cross to the center of the box where Kerr headed the ball from the penalty spot into the back of net to bring Australia within one. USA 4, AUS 3. WATCH.

USA – Mallory Pugh (Alyssa Naeher), 90+5: Naeher’s booming goal kick set up for Pugh to run under it cleverly chip it over Australia goalkeeper Lydia Williams for her second goal of the match. USA 5, AUS 3. WATCH. FINAL.

Additional Notes:

• Alex Morgan’s 100th career goal tonight was also her second of 2019. She is tied with Tiffeny Milbrett (100 goals) in sixth place on the all-time scoring list, behind Abby Wambach (184), Mia Hamm (158), Kristine Lilly (130), Michelle Akers (107) and Carli Lloyd (106).
• Morgan has scored 27 goals over her last 32 WNT matches, a span that runs from the end of 2017. The 27 goals have included six braces and one hat trick. Morgan earned cap No. 159 and moved into sole possession of 17th all-time in games played.
• She is the third youngest player (29 years, 276 days) in WNT history to score 100 goals, behind only Mia Hamm (26 years, 185 days) and Abby Wambach (29 years, 47 days). She is also the fourth fastest player to 100 goals behind Wambach (129 caps), Michelle Akers (130) and Hamm (156).
• Megan Rapinoe earned cap No. 150 tonight, making her the 21st woman in USA history to play 150 times or more for her country. She scored her 44th career goal and third of 2019.
• Colorado native Mallory Pugh scored 37 seconds after coming into the match in the second half and again seconds before the game’s final whistle. It was her second career brace. Pugh now has 15 international goals with the USA and three in 2019.
• Emily Sonnett earned two assists, her first of 2019. Crystal Dunn earned her first assist of 2019.
• Tobin Heath scored her third goal of 2019 tonight and the 28th of her career. She has scored 10 goals in her last 15 matches and eight in her last 10.

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

Match: U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Australia
Date: April 4, 2019
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park; Commerce City, Colo.
Kickoff: 7 p.m. MT
Attendance: 17,264
Weather:  60 degrees; Partly cloudy

Scoring Summary:           1             2             F
USA                                      1             4             5                           
AUS                                      1             2             3                           

USA – Alex Morgan (Crystal Dunn)            14^th minute
AUS – Lisa De Vanna (Caitlin Foord)          29
AUS – Caitlin Foord (Sam Kerr)                   47
USA – Tobin Heath (Emily Sonnett)           53
USA – Megan Rapinoe                                  61
USA – Mallory Pugh (Emily Sonnett)         67
AUS – Sam Kerr (Hayley Raso)                    81
USA – Mallory Pugh (Alyssa Naeher)         90+5              

Lineups:
USA: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 2-Emily Sonnett (12-Tierna Davidson, 79), 7-Abby Dahlkemper (10-Carli Lloyd, 85), 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 19-Crystal Dunn; 8-Julie Ertz, 9-Lindsey Horan (23-Christen Press, 64), 16-Rose Lavelle (3-Samantha Mewis, 46); 17-Tobin Heath, 13-Alex Morgan (20-Allie Long, 81), 15-Megan Rapinoe (capt.) (22-Mallory Pugh, 66)
Substitutes not used: 11-Ali Krieger, 24-Ashlyn Harris, 26-Jessica McDonald
Head coach: Jill Ellis

AUS: 1-Lydia Williams; 2-Gema Simon, 4-Clare Polkinghorne, 8-Elise Kellond-Knight (16-Hayley Raso, 68), 9-Caitlin Foord (17-Mary Fowler, 75), 10-Emily Van Egmond, 11-Lisa De Vanna (15-Emily Gielnik, 57), 13-Tameka Butt (19-Katrina Gorry, 90), 14-Alanna Kennedy, 20-Sam Kerr (capt.), 21-Ellie Carpenter
Substitutes not used: 12-Teagan Micah, 18-Mackenzie Arnold, 3-Aivi Luik, 5-Laura Alleway, 22-Elizabeth Ralston, 23-Teigen Allen
Head coach: Ante Milicic

Stats Summary: USA / AUS
Shots: 17 / 10
Shots on Goal: 11 / 3
Saves: 0 / 6
Corner Kicks: 11 / 1
Fouls: 8 / 7
Offside: 7 / 0

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Megan Rapinoe (caution)                               49^th minute
AUS – Clare Polkinghorne (caution)                         84
USA – Samantha Mewis (caution)                             90+1

Officials:
Referee: Karen Abt (USA)                         
Assistant Referee 1: Jennifer Garner (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Melissa Snedden (CAN)                         
4th Official: Sandra Benitez (SLV)                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Woman of the Match: Mallory Pugh