WNT Wraps Up Send-Off Series in New Jersey

The U.S. Women’s National Team will conclude its three-game Send-Off Series leading into the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup when it takes on Korea Republic on Saturday, May 30, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. The match is almost sold out (tickets available) for what will be the U.S. WNT’s final game before departing to Canada to begin play on women’s soccer’s biggest stage. It will be the third time the U.S. Women play in Harrison and the second game between the teams at this venue following their most recent meeting on June 20, 2013. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN and WatchESPN at 4:30 p.m. ET and on Univision Deportes at 9:00 p.m. ET (delayed). Fans can follow all the action on Twitter @ussoccer_wnt and @ussoccer_esp, and watch highlights on ussoccer.com.

2015 LOOK BACK: On May 17, the USWNT defeated CONCACAF rival Mexico 5-1 at StubHub Center in Carson, California, in front of a sold-out crowd of 27,000 fans in its second Send-Off Series game. Sydney Leroux and Abby Wambach led the way with two goals each while Lori Chalupny added a tally, her second of the year. Just a week prior, the U.S. Women began the Send-Off Series with a dominating 3-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in San Jose, California. The Irish did not manage to get off a shot. Abby Wambach scored twice and defender Julie Johnston notched her third goal in three games to give the sold-out crowd a special win on Mother’s Day. The win was the second at home for the WNT in 2015, who defeated  New Zealand 4-0 on April 4 in the first domestic match of the year at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Earlier in the year, the WNT took home the trophy at the 2015 Algarve Cup in Portugal, where the Americans triumphed 2-0 against France in the championship game to win its 10th title at the annual tournament. The USA comes into the match against the Korea Republic with a 7-1-1 overall record so far in 2015.

USA VS. KOREA REPUBLIC SERIES

• The USA has dominated the all-time series against the Korea Republic, holding a 7-0-1 record and outscoring the Taegeuk Ladies 31-3.
• The last time the Korea Republic scored on the USA was on June 15, 2013, during the first match of a two-game series between both nations that started in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The USA won the game 4-1, and then went on to defeat the team again 5-0 just five days later in New Jersey in what turned out to be Abby Wambach’s record-breaking goal scoring night.
• All eight matches between the two nations have taken place in U.S. soil, although the USA has played two Peace Queen Cup tournaments in its history in South Korea.
• The last encounter between the USA and the Korea Republic was in 2013 and it was also at Red Bull Arena where the USA will look to wrap up its Send-Off Series and remain perfect on home soil before departing to Canada.  

On the field for the USA vs. KOR:
June 20, 2013 – Red Bull Arena; Harrison, New Jersey
USA                5          Wambach 11, 19, 29, 45+1; Holiday 64
MEX                0          

Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo (21-Jill Loyden, 46); 6-Crystal Dunn, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.) (4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 48), 14-Whitney Engen, 22-Meghan Klingenberg (5-Kelley O’Hara, 52); 9-Heather O’Reilly, 10-Carli Lloyd, 12-Lauren Cheney (16-Yael Averbuch, 71), 15-Megan Rapinoe; 13-Alex Morgan (2-Sydney Leroux, 49), 20-Abby Wambach (23-Christen Press, 58)
Subs Not Used: 17-Tobin Heath
Head Coach: Tom Sermanni

KOR: 1-Kim Jungmi; 4-Shim Seoyeon (capt.), 6-Kim Seonjoo, 20-Kim Hyeri, 5-Lee Sejin (13-Lee Mina, 56), 8-Cho Sohyun, 15-Kim Narae, 17-Park Heeyoung (14-Kwon Hahnul, 60), 10-Ji Soyun (19-Shin Jiyoung, 86), 12-Yoo Younga, 18-Jeoun Eunha (16-Kim Sangeun, 76)
Subs Not Used: 2-Kim Jihey, 3-Jeong Younga, 7-Lee Eunhye, 9-Park Heeyoung, 11-Lee Jangmi, 21-Yoon Younggeul, 22-Lee Jungeun
Head Coach: Yoon Dukyeo

NINTH MEETING: The USA and the Korea Republic have met on eight previous occasions, with Saturday’s contest being the ninth meeting between the two countries. The USA holds a 7-0-1 record advantage and has never finished with anything worse than a 0-0 draw against Korea Republic. The first meeting between the two sides came on May 2, 1997 in Milwaukee, where the U.S. easily won, 7-0. Since then, the Red, White and Blue’s goal advantage has increased to 31-3. Additionally, the three goals against the WNT have come in separate matches as the U.S. Women have never allowed more than one goal scored against them in a match versus the Taegeuk Ladies.

ABBY’S HISTORIC NIGHT: During the last meeting between both teams on June 20, 2013, Abby Wambach etched her name in the history books as the greatest scorer in women’s soccer, scoring four times in a 5-0 win over the Korea Republic at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. Wambach’s four goals all came in the first half; however, it was her third tally that gave her 159 goals in her illustrious career, a number that moved her past former USWNT forward and FIFA World Cup champion Mia Hamm, who scored 158 goals during her tenure with the USA. Wambach currently has 182 goals.

ALL GOOD IN THE GARDEN STATE: Overall, the U.S. WNT has played nine times in the state of New Jersey, and twice at Red Bull Arena. At the home of MLS’s New York Red Bulls, the U.S. Women have a perfect 2-0-0 record and have outscored opponents 6-0. The U.S. Women’s World Cup team features four players who hail from New Jersey in captain Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant), and midfielders Carli Lloyd (Delran), Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick) and Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge). The Jersey contingent is expected to get huge support from the home state crowd at RBA.

JERSEY HAS OUR BACK: As the women prepare to face Korea Republic and leave U.S. soil on a high note before making their way to Winnipeg, USA supporters around the New Jersey area and beyond will come together during Saturday’s match to demonstrate that the Garden State and the nation believes in the Red, White and Blue. On game day, there will be a large-scale tifo created by local supporters that will be raised in the south endline after the national anthem is played. The tifo is a collaborative effort involving different people who represent many different supporters groups. These include: Sammers SC (@sammerssc), American Outlaws (@AmericanOutlaws), South Ward (@RBA_SouthWard) and Cloud 9 (@cloud9_SkyBlue).

CANADA, HERE WE COME: Following the game against the Korea Republic, the U.S. players will have a couple of days to relax and pack their bags before departing for Canada and the start of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The tournament kicks off on June 6 and the U.S. opens group play against Australia on June 8. After dropping its first match of the year to France 2-0 in Lorient on Feb. 8, the USA has gone unbeaten and has outscored opponents 20-2.

GROUP D AWAITS: The U.S. Women’s National Team was drawn into Group D at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup where it will face Australia, Nigeria and Sweden. The seventh edition of the tournament takes place from June 6-July 5 in Canada. The U.S. opens the tournament against Australia on June 8 at Winnipeg Stadium, face Sweden on June 12 in Winnipeg, and finish Group D play against Nigeria on June 16 at BC Place in Vancouver. The USA, Nigeria and Sweden have competed in every edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup.

U.S. ROSTER NOTES:

• On April 14, U.S. head coach Jill Ellis named the 23-player roster that will represent the USA at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. All 23 players were a part of the 25-player roster that was called up for the Algarve Cup in March and the match vs. New Zealand game on April 4 before Ellis named her final roster.
• The 23-player Women’s World Cup Team is the roster for all three Send-Off Series games.
• In its last eight games, the U.S. has surrendered just two goals and has scored 20.
• The USA’s current 95-game unbeaten streak at home (84-0-11 since Nov. 6, 2004) is a team record. The next-highest streak is 50 games (48-0-2) from Feb. 10, 1996, through April 22, 1999. The USA tied the record on May 14, 2011 (2-0 win against Japan at Columbus Crew Stadium) and broke the record with the 51st game on May 18, 2011 (another 2-0 win against Japan at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina).
• U.S. forward Abby Wambach broke the all-time goal scoring record previously held by former U.S. forward Mia Hamm (158 goals) during the USA’s last match against the Korea Republic on June 20, 2013. The game also took place at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey and Wambach scored four goals in the 5-1 USA victory. Lauren Holiday added the fifth score.
• Wambach leads the U.S. roster with five goals in 2015. She has scored a brace in each of the last two games.
• U.S. midfielder Megan Rapinoe’s next goal would give her 30 for her career, making her the 13th U.S. female player to score 30 goals and tally 30 assists. She currently has 32 assists.
• Lori Chalupny earned her 100th cap against Ireland on May 10. She became the 32nd player to reach 100 caps in U.S. WNT history. She will be honored for the achievement during the USA’s fall matches.
• Chalupny scored against New Zealand in her hometown of St. Louis, marking it her first goal for the USA since she scored against the Republic of Ireland on Sept. 20, 2008. She scored her second goal of the year against Mexico on May 17, just 45 seconds after coming into the match as a second half sub.
• Meghan Klingenberg scored her second National Team goal on a long-range blast against New Zealand. Her first goal was a similar long-range effort that came against Haiti on Oct. 8, during Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament last year.
• Julie Johnston has three goals in 2015, all coming in consecutive games. Her three goals were all from set pieces and all assisted by Lauren Holiday.
• Ten different players have scored for the USA in 2015: Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, Amy Rodriguez, Christen Press, Johnston, Klingenberg, Morgan Brian, Chalupny, Sydney Leroux and Carli Lloyd.
• U.S. captain Christie Rampone is currently the second most-capped player in U.S. and world history with 305 appearances.
• Rampone earned her 300th cap against with Mexico on Oct. 24, 2014, and currently has 305 games, the most of any active player in the world and behind only former teammate Kristine Lilly.
• Becky Sauerbrunn is the only player on the roster to start and play every game for the USA. She has played the most minutes (789) of anyone on the team.
• Carli Lloyd was the only player to play all 450 minutes during the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship. She was named MVP of the tournament after scoring five goals.
• Lauren Holiday leads all U.S. players on the rosters in assists with five in 2015. Holiday was the 2014 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year.
• Brian, the USA’s youngest player at age 22, was the 2014 U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year. She was also named the 2013 and 2014 Hermann Trophy winner while playing for the University of Virginia.
• While Wambach is the USA’s top scorer on the roster with 182 goals, Lloyd is next with 63 career international goals and Morgan has 51. Heather O’Reilly has scored 41.
• Christen Press’ four-goal performance against Argentina in Brazil last December was the ninth such game in U.S. history and second of 2014 after Wambach scored four times against Costa Rica in the final of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship. It was the first-career hat trick for Press.
• All nine NWSL clubs are represented on the Women’s World Cup roster.

KOREA REPUBLIC ROSTER NOTES

• Nine of the players on this current roster saw action the last time the two teams played on June 20, 2013.
• Goalkeeper Kim Jungmi is the most capped player on the roster with 89. Midfielder Cho Sohyun (78) and forward Ji Soyun (74) follow close behind.
• Soyun is the leading scorer on the roster with 38 international goals. Jeon Gaeul is next with 32.
• Forward Park Eunsun was the leading scorer during World Cup qualification, notching six goals and tying China’s Yang Li for the most goals scored in the tournament.
• Only two players in the 23-woman roster play outside of South Korea: Park Eunsun for Rossiyanka in Russia and Ji Soyun for Chelsea Ladies in England.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS:

• With three goals against Argentina on Dec. 18, Carli Lloyd upped her career total to 61 and moved into sole possession of seventh place on the U.S. WNT’s all-time goal scoring list, passing Shannon MacMillan who scored 60 goals in her career. Lloyd, now with 63 goals, is the highest-scoring player in U.S. history who has played exclusively as a midfielder.
• Megan Rapinoe became the 31st American female player to reach the century mark in caps against New Zealand on April 4. She currently has 102 caps. Lori Chalupny became the 32nd player against Ireland on May 10.
• Heather O’Reilly is the ninth player to hit 200 caps in U.S. history after reaching the milestone against Korea DPR on March 12, 2014. Now with 218, she is seventh on the USA’s all-time list. Abby Wambach (241) and Christie Rampone (305) are the only active players ahead of her.
• O’Reilly is the second-youngest player to hit 200 caps for the USA. Lilly was 28 years, 9 months and 15 days old when she earned cap No. 200 on May 7, 2000. O’Reilly was 29 years, 2 months and 10 days old when she earned her 200th cap.
• O’Reilly is currently sixth all-time in assists with 52 and is 13th all-time in goals with 41.
• In addition to breaking Mia Hamm’s world scoring record, Wambach’s June 20, 2013, performance against the Korea Republic also made her the USA’s all-time leader in multiple-goal games with 39 for her career. She has since added six more and now sits at 45. She has 37 two-goal games, five hat tricks, two four-goal games and one five-goal game.
• Sydney Leroux is tied with April Heinrichs in 14th place on the all-time U.S. WNT goal scoring list with 35 goals.
• With her game-winning goal against England on Feb. 13, Alex Morgan became the 10th player in U.S. history to score 50 or more goals. She now has 51.
• Hope Solo has a U.S. record 83 career shutouts and has 169 caps with the USWNT, the second-most for a goalkeeper in U.S. history behind Brianna Scurry (173; 1994-2008.)
• Solo has the most starts by a WNT goalkeeper with a 163, surpassing Scurry’s 159 (from 1994-2008). Solo is in 10th place on the WNT’s all-time starts list surpassing Brandi Chastain (160 games from 1988-2004).
• Solo is currently second all-time in goalkeeper wins with 130, behind only Scurry who had 133.

BY THE NUMBERS:
0.44           Goals per game the USA has allowed in 2015
2                USA’s FIFA ranking
2.22           Goals per game the USA scored in 2015
4                Number of players on the WWC from the Chicago Red Stars and FC Kansas City, most of any NWSL teams.
8                Assists by Carli Lloyd to lead the team in 2014
10              Number of different U.S. players to score a goal in 2015
20              Goals in 43 National Team games for Christen Press, a goal in slightly less than every two games
63              Goals by Lloyd, most ever for a WNT player who has played exclusively as a midfielder
82              Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Sydney Leroux in her career
83              Shutouts by Hope Solo, an all-time U.S. WNT record
96              Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Alex Morgan in her career
98              Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Abby Wambach in her career
114            U.S. victories when Wambach scores a goal (114-2-8 overall)
130            Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Mia Hamm in her career
305            Caps by Christie Rampone, second all-time to Kristine Lilly (352)

BY THE NUMBERS, WWC EDITION:
2                Number of players in U.S. history to be named to Women’s World Cup rosters for non-consecutive tournaments: Brandi Chastain (1991, 1999) and Lori Chalupny (2007, 2015)