U.S. WNT Continues Victory Tour with 7-2 Win in Chattanooga

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (Aug. 19, 2015) – The World Cup Champion U.S. Women’s National Team continued its Victory Tour with a 7-2 win against Costa Rica in front of a record crowd of 20,535 at Finley Stadium. The crowd was the largest for a stand-alone WNT friendly in the southeastern region of the United States.

Members of the military led the team out on the field and a moment of silence was observed before kickoff in memory of the tragedy that took place on July 17 when a gunman opened fire on two military sites in Chattanooga, killing five servicemen. During the game the WNT players wore black armbands in memory of the victims.

The U.S. WNT will be auctioning off their autographed game-worn jerseys on ussoccer.com to raise money for the families of the victims. More information on the start of the auction will be provided soon.

After the U.S. took an early 2-0 lead behind goals from Carli Lloyd and Heather O’Reilly, the match was delayed for 83 minutes due to lightning. After returning to the field, the U.S. continued their dominance with additional goals from Abby Wambach, O’Reilly, Alex Morgan and Amy Rodriguez. The WNT also benefited from an own goal, but Costa Rica was able to find the back of the net twice in second half for their first ever goals against the U.S. in 12 meetings.   

The U.S. players will now return to their NWSL clubs for the stretch run of the season and continues its Victory Tour with a pair of matches against Australia in September, at Ford Field in Detroit on Sept. 17 and at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama on Sept. 20. Tickets are going fast with 30,000 already sold in Detroit and 27,000 in Birmingham. For more information on tickets, click here.

Goal Scoring Rundown:
USA – Carli Lloyd, 7th minute: Lloyd’s spectacular blast from 31 yards off a direct free kick deflected off a Costa Rican defender in the wall, hit the bottom of the crossbar at the upper left corner and bounced down into the goal to give the WNT an early lead. USA 1, CRC 0 SEE GOAL

USA – Heather O’Reilly, 13th minute: Carli Lloyd received a pass at the top of the box, spun towards goal and blasted a shot on frame. The Costa Rican goalkeeper responded with a tremendous diving save, but couldn’t hold the ball and Heather O’Reilly followed up to finish the rebound and double the WNT lead. USA 2, CRC 0 SEE GOAL

USA – Abby Wambach (Lori Chalupny), 18th minute: Carli Lloyd started the run down the right side and as she approached the end line sent a cross over to Lori Chalupny, who was positioned in the left side of the box. With the defense closing in, Chalupny sent the ball back across to Abby Wambach, who one-timed it home with her left foot. USA 3, CRC 0

USA – Carli Lloyd (Megan Rapinoe), 20th minute: The goal came off a corner kick from Megan Rapinoe. Rapinoe whipped in a cross and Lloyd knifed though the defense, leapt into the air and volleyed home from close range for her second goal of the game. USA 4, CRC 0

USA – Heather O’Reilly (Abby Wambach), 23rd minute: Abby Wambach, who just five minutes before had scored a goal of her own, dribbled powerfully down the left side. O’Reilly made a run to the near post, and Wambach, who has been the recipient of many O’Reilly crosses in the past, was the distributor this time around. O’Reilly met Wambach’s cross with her a powerful header high into the net for her second score of the game. USA 5, CRC 0

USA – Katherine Alvarado (Own Goal), 31st minute: Off another corner Lloyd made a run into the box and Alvarado was grabber her the whole time. The driven ball skipped through traffic inside the penalty box, bounced off her shin and skipped into the back of the net. USA 6, CRC 0

CRC – Cristin Granados (Carolina Venegas), 56th minute: Carolina Venegas made a great move to get around Tobin Heath near the end line and then threaded a ball back to Granados in the seam. With a first-time shot she pushed it past a diving Hope Solo from close range. USA 6, CRC 1

CRC – Karla Villalobos (Mariana Benavides), 69th minute: Mariana Benavides got a long ball up and through the U.S. defense to Villalobos who took a few controlling dribbles near the top of the box and finessed a bending ball over Naeher and into the upper right corner. USA 6, CRC 2

USA – Alex Morgan (Amy Rodriguez), 81st minute: After substitute goalkeeper Yolian Sala made a great kick save, Costa Rica poorly cleared the ball away and it found Amy Rodriguez on the right side of the box. Rodriguez took a great touch to beat a defender and sent a perfect back post cross to Alex Morgan who chested it into the net for the seventh score of the game. USA 7, CRC 2 SEE GOAL

Next on the Schedule: The WNT continues the 2015 Victory Tour with a stop in Detroit on Sept. 17 to take on Australia at Ford Field, where more than 30,000 tickets have already been sold.
Broadcast information: FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports GO (7 p.m. ET; Sept. 19)
Social: Twitter (@ussoccer_wnt; @ussoccer_esp); Facebook; Instagram

Milestone Watch:

• Tobin Heath earned her 100th cap with the WNT. She is the 33rd player to play 100 times, having made her debut with the USA in 2008. She will be honored before the USA’s next match in Detroit.
• Wambach extended her record as the world’s all-time leading goal scorer, notching the 184th goal of her career.
• Heather O’Reilly’s brace pushed her career scoring total to 45 goals. She has scored two goals in each of the last two games and has now tallied four multi-goal games in her career.
• Lloyd’s two scores gave her 71 for her career, just four short of tying Cindy Parlow for sixth on the USA’s all-time goal scoring list.
• Shannon Boxx earned her 193rd cap, moving past Brandi Chastain into sole possession of 11th place on the USA’s all-time caps list.
• Carli Lloyd earned her 204th cap to move into a tie for eighth place on the USA’s all-time caps list with Tiffeny Milbrett.
• Alex Morgan’s 53rd goal moved her into a tie for ninth place with Carin Gabbara on the USA’s all-time scoring list.

Additional Notes:

• In the game’s 15th minute, the game paused for lightning delay, which lasted 83 minutes.
• Prior to the match, Lori Chalupny was honored for earning her 100th cap. On May 10 against Ireland in San Jose, Chalupny, who announced her retirement from international soccer on Aug. 17, became the 32nd American female to play 100 times for her country. She debuted for the USA at the age of 17 in 2001 and has won a U-19 Women's World Cup title, an Olympic gold medal and a Women's World Cup title.
• The match was the second for the WNT at Finley Stadium and with the win the team improved to 2-0-0 in the Chattanooga. The USA last played there in 1997, when it defeated Sweden 3-1 at the home of the National Premier Soccer League's Chattanooga FC and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Moccasins football and women's soccer teams.
• The WNT is now 5-0-0 all time in the state of Tennessee, where it has outscored opponents 17-5.
• Carli Lloyd’s 70th goal made her the seventh player in U.S. history to score 70 or more goals.
• Heather O’Reilly has scored multiple goals in each of the WNT’s last two games.
• Costa Rica’s first goal was the first it has scored against the USWNT in the history of the series between the two teams.
• The USA remains perfect against Costa Rica, improving its all-time record to 12-0-0. 

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

Match: U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Costa Rica
Date: Aug. 19, 2015
Competition: International Friendly – Victory Tour
Venue: Finley Field; Chattanooga, Tenn.
Kickoff: 6:30 ET
Attendance: 20,535
Weather: 79 degrees, humid

Scoring Summary:    1          2          F
USA                            6          1          7
CRC                            1          1          2

USA – Carli Lloyd                                                     7th minute
USA – Heather O’Reilly (Carli Lloyd)                      13
USA – Abby Wambach (Lori Chalupny)                   18
USA – Carli Lloyd (Megan Rapinoe)                         20
USA – Heather O’Reilly (Abby Wambach)               23
USA – Katherine Alvarado (Own Goal)                     31
CRC – Cristin Granados (Carolina Venegas)              41
CRC – Karla Villalobos (Mariana Benavides)            69
USA – Alex Morgan (Amy Rodriguez)                       81

Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo (21-Alyssa Naeher, 46); 5-Kelley O’Hara, 6-Whitney Engen, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 16-Lori Chalupny (capt.); 9-Heather O’Reilly (8-Amy Rodriguez, 46), 12-Lauren Holiday, 17-Tobin Heath (7-Shannon Boxx, 64), 15-Megan Rapinoe (22-Meghan Klingenberg, 46), 10-Carli Lloyd (23-Christen Press, 46); 20-Abby Wambach (13-Alex Morgan, 56)
Subs Not Used: 3-Christie Rampone, 11-Ali Krieger, 14-Morgan Brian, 18-Ashlyn Harris, 19-Julie Johnston
Not available: 2-Sydney Leroux
Head coach: Jill Ellis

CRC: 1-Dinnia Diaz (18-Yolian Salas, 78); 3-Fabiola Villalobos (2-Gabriela Guillén, 67), 5-Diana Saenz, 20-Wendy Acosta, 4-Mariana Benavides (19-Maria Paula Coto, 86), 6-Maria Paula Elizondo (8-Daniela Cruz, 63), 10-Katherine Alvarado (capt.), 15-Cristin Granados, 7-Melissa Herrera, 9-Carolina Venegas, 17-Karla Villalobos (14-Mayra Almazán, 74)
Subs Not Used: 12-Lixy Rodriguez, 21-Noelle Sanz
Head coach: Amelia Valverde

Stats Summary: USA / CRC
Shots: 28 / 4
Shots on Goal: 14 / 2
Saves: 0 / 8
Corner Kicks: 8 / 0
Fouls: 6 / 8
Offside: 1 / 1

Misconduct Summary:
CRC – Mariana Benavides (caution)  36th minute
CRC – Fabiola Villalobos (caution)    62

Officials:
Referee: Margaret Domka (USA)  
Assistant Referee 1: Amanda Ross (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Marie-Han Gagnon-Chretien (USA)
4th Official: Tori Penso (USA)

Budweiser Woman of the Match: Heather O’Reilly