New Zealand vs. USWNT – International Friendly
Date: January 17, 2023
Venue: Sky Stadium; Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara, New Zealand
Broadcast: HBO Max, Universo, Peacock and the Telemundo App
Broadcast Time: 4 p.m. NZT (10 p.m. ET on Jan. 17; pre-game coverage at 9:30 p.m. ET on HBO Max)
Official Kickoff Time: 4:05 p.m. NZT (10:05 p.m. ET on Jan. 17)
Starting XI vs. New Zealand: 1- Alyssa Naeher; 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (Capt.), 9-Mallory Swanson, 10-Lindsey Horan, 11-Midge Purce, 12-Naomi Girma, 13-Alex Morgan, 16-Rose Lavelle, 19-Crystal Dunn, 20-Taylor Kornieck, 23-Emily Fox
Available Subs: 2-Ashley Sanchez, 3-Alana Cook, 5-Hailie Mace, 6-Lynn Williams, 8-Sofia Huerta, 14-Emily Sonnett, 15-Sam Coffey, 17-Andi Sullivan, 18-Casey Murphy, 21-Adrianna Franch, 22-Kristie Mewis, 25-Trinity Rodman
Not dressing: Ashley Hatch
GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
- USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (Including this match): Sauerbrunn (212), Morgan (201), Dunn (127), Horan (123), Naeher (87) Lavelle (85), Swanson (83), Fox (23), Purce (21), Girma (11), Kornieck (8)
- Buoyed by a pair of two-time World Cup champions and the two active members of the USA’s 200-cap club in Sauerbrunn and Morgan, this starting lineup averages 88 caps per player. The XI also features two other players with 100+ caps in Dunn and Horan while two players – Girma and Kornieck enter the match with 10 caps or fewer.
- The lineup to open the year against New Zealand features three different players from the Stating XI that opened the USA’s final match of 2022, a 2-1 win over Germany on Nov. 13 – Dunn for Sofia Huerta on defense, Kornieck for Andi Sullivan in the midfield and Purce for Sophia Smith – who is missing this camp due to a minor injury – up top.
- Becky Sauerbrunn will once again wear the captain’s armband as she earns her 212th career cap for the USWNT. The 37-year-old Sauerbrunn is the oldest player on this roster and will be seeking to represent the USWNT at a seventh world championship later this year, having been named to three World Cup and three Olympic rosters in her decorated international career.
- Alyssa Naeher will make the start in goal for the USA and is set to earn her 87th career cap. Naeher, who ranks third in USWNT history with 50 career shutouts, was named to the shortlist for 2022 The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper honors. In last year’s meeting against New Zealand at the SheBelieves Cup, Naeher made the start and kept a clean sheet in what was her first action for club or country since getting injured in the Olympic Semifinal vs. Canada.
- Playing under her married name for the first time, Mallory Swanson (formerly Pugh) will earn her 83rd cap for the USWNT. She married Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson in December. Swanson led the USWNT with seven assists in 2022 while also scoring a career-high seven goals on the year. Swanson’s first goal of 2022 came against New Zealand, late in the second half of the USA’s 5-0 win over the Football Ferns at the SheBelieves Cup.
- Lindsey Horan will make her 123rd international appearance for the USWNT, coming off a strong 2022 campaign in which she started all 14 matches in which she appeared for the USWNT. Horan earned her 100th cap against New Zealand during the delayed 2020 Olympics, and in fact scored in that match. Horan has two goals and three assists in five career appearances against the Football Ferns.
- Forward Midge Purce will make her ninth career start and first since July 11 vs. Mexico as she earns her 21st career cap with the USWNT. Purce, who made her international debut in November 2019 as one of the first players to earn a first cap under Vlatko Andonovski, had two goals and an assist in 11 appearances in 2022 while also helping force two own goals in the USA’s Feb. 20 win over New Zealand.
- Naomi Girma, who became the first player ever to win both NWSL Rookie of the Year and NWSL Defender of the Year honors in the same season, is set to make her ninth career start in what will be her 11th cap overall for the USA. Since making her senior National Team debut on April 12, 2022, Girma has played the full 90 minutes on seven occasions for the USWNT and started four of the USA’s final five games in 2022.
- Alex Morgan, who earned her 200th cap in the USA’s final game of 2022, will be making her 201st appearance for the USA, moving into a tie with former USWNT defender and current General Manager Kate Markgraf for 12th on the USWNT’s all-time caps list. Morgan ranks fifth on the USA’s all-time scoring charts with 119 goals and has seven goals in eight career appearances against New Zealand, the latest of which came in the group stage of the 2021 Summer Olympics.
- Earlier this month, Morgan – the 2022 NWSL Golden Boot winner – was named to the 14-player shortlist for 2022 The Best FIFA Women’s Player honors.
- Rose Lavelle will make her 85th international appearance coming off another highly-productive year for the USWNT in which she registered a career-high six assists, good for sixth on the team, to go along with four goals. Two of Lavelle’s now 22 career goals have come against New Zealand, including the USA’s opening goal against the Football Ferns at the delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
- Defender Crystal Dunn will make her first start for the USWNT since September 16, 2021, as she earns her 127th cap for the USA. On Oct. 7, Dunn returned to the field for the USA for the first time since giving birth to her son Marcel in May of 2022. The 14th woman to play for the USWNT after becoming a mom, Dunn also came on as substitute in the USA’s Oct. 11 match in Spain and the Nov. 10 meeting with Germany in Ft. Lauderdale.
- Midfielder Taylor Kornieck will make her first career start for the USWNT as she earns her eighth cap overall. Kornieck scored in her international debut on June 25 against Colombia and made her most recent appearance as a late substitute in the USA’s year-end victory over Germany on Nov. 13, 2022.
- Emily Fox will make her 23rd appearance and 21st career start for the USWNT. The 24-year-old defender started all 14 matches in which she appeared for the USA in 2022, finishing seventh on the team in total minutes played last year with 987 minutes of action.
