USWNT vs. New Zealand – 2022 SheBelieves Cup, Presented by Visa
Date: February 20, 2022
Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park; Carson, Calif.
Broadcast: ABC, PrendeTV
Broadcast Time: 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET
Official Kickoff Time: 12:20 p.m. PT / 3:20 p.m. ET
Starting XI vs. New Zealand: 1-Alyssa Naeher, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (Capt.), 8-Sofia Huerta, 11-Sophia Smith, 13-Ashley Sanchez, 15-Alana Cook, 17-Andi Sullivan, 19-Emily Fox, 20-Catarina Macario, 22-Kristie Mewis, 23-Margaret Purce
Available Subs: 2-Trinity Rodman, 3-Lynn Williams, 5-Kelley O’Hara, 6-Morgan Gautrat, 7-Ashley Hatch, 9-Mallory Pugh, 10-Jaelin Howell, 12-Tierna Davidson, 14-Emily Sonnett, 16-Rose Lavelle, 18-Casey Murphy, 21-Aubrey Kingsbury
GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW – NEW ZEALAND
- USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Sauerbrunn (201), Naeher (79), K. Mewis (35), Sullivan (23), Macario (14), Smith (12), Purce (11), Fox (10), Huerta (10), Cook (6), Sanchez (4)
- The starting lineup against New Zealand features six different players from the XI that started on Thursday against the Czech Republic.
- The average age of the Starting XI is 27.2 years and averages 36 caps per player.
- Sauerbrunn (201) is by far the most experienced player in the Starting XI with Naeher (78) the only other player in the starting lineup with over 40 caps. Seven players – Macario (14), Smith (12), Purce (11), Fox (10), Huerta (10), Cook (6) and Sanchez (4) – have fewer than 15 caps.
- In fact, Sauerbrunn enters the match with 200 international appearances, more than the 10 other players in the USA starting lineup combined (195).
- Defender and captain Becky Sauerbrunn returns to the starting lineup for what will be her 201st cap overall and 170th start for the U.S. Women’s National Team. Sauerbrunn, who became the 12th member of the USWNT’s 200-cap club with her substitute appearance against the Czech Republic on Feb. 17, is now tied with current USWNT General Manager and former center back stalwart Kate Markgraf for 11th on the USWNT’s all-time cap list. Goalkeeper Hope Solo is 10th with 202 caps.
- Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher returns to the field for the USWNT for the first time since Aug. 2, 2021, when she was forced to leave the Olympic semifinal in the 30th minute after suffering a serious knee injury. This will be Naeher’s 79th cap overall for the USWNT and her first match for club or for country in 202 days.
- Sofia Huerta will earn her 10th cap with the USWNT as she makes her fourth career start for the red, white and blue. Huerta started the USA’s final match of 2021, playing the full 90 minutes against Australia in Newcastle in what was her first start for the USWNT since June 12, 2018.
- Sophia Smith will earn her 12th cap as she makes her second consecutive career start for the USWNT, playing 59 minutes against the Czech Republic on Thursday night. Smith is the youngest player in this starting lineup at 21-years-of-age and has one goal in her previous 10 caps, which came in her first career start against Paraguay on September 21, 2021 in Cincinnati.
- Ashley Sanchez will make her first career start for the USWNT and is set to make her fourth international appearance overall. The 22-year-old Sanchez grew up in Monrovia, Calif., which just over 30 miles from the DHSP, and earned her first cap in Sydney, Australia on Nov. 27, 2021.
- Alana Cook will start a fourth consecutive match for the USWNT as she earns her sixth cap overall. Cook has played the full 90 minutes in each of her previous five caps, helping the USA to four clean sheets.
- Andi Sullivan will earn her 24th cap as she starts for the seventh time in the USA’s last eight matches. Sullivan, who appeared in just one match in 2020, has played the full 90 minutes in four of her last caps outings for the USA. By comparison, in her first 17 caps, Sullivan only went the full 90 minutes on three occasions.
- Emily Fox will make her fourth consecutive start and earn her 10th cap overall for the USWNT. Six of Fox’s previous nine caps have come under Andonovski. That includes five appearances in 2021 and one cap thus far at the 2022 SheBelieves Cup.
- Catarina Macario will be making seventh career start and 14th appearance overall for the USWNT. The 22-year-old Macario had three goals and one assist in her 12 appearances in 2021, and with 14 caps, and is the fifth-most experienced player in this USWNT Starting XI.
- Kristie Mewis will make her first start for the USA since September 16, 2021 against Paraguay, in what will be her 13th career start and 35th cap overall for the USWNT. Mewis, who has the third-most caps of any player in this Starting XI, tallied a goal and an assist at the 2021 SheBelieves Cup, both coming against Argentina on the final match day of the tournament.
- Margaret “Midge” Purce will earn her 11th cap for the USWNT and make her sixth career start. Purce started both games in Australia at the end of 2021, registering an assist in each of the matches against the Matildas. She has two goals and two assists in her first 10 international appearances.
