Lineup Notes: USA-Australia Face Off in Hartford at ToN2018

USA vs. Australia
Date: July 29, 2018
Venue: Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field; East Hartford, Conn.
Broadcast: FS1
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET

Tonight’s Starting XI vs. Australia: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 22-Emily Sonnett, 7-Abby Dahlkemper, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 19-Crystal Dunn; 2-Julie Ertz, 9-Lindsey Horan, 6-Morgan Brian; 17-Tobin Heath, 13-Alex Morgan (capt.), 15-Megan Rapinoe

Subs: 3-Samantha Mewis, 5-McCall Zerboni, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 10-Carli Lloyd, 11-Merritt Mathias, 12-Tierna Davidson, 14-Casey Short, 16-Rose Lavelle, 20-Allie Long, 21-Adrianna Franch, 23-Christen Press, 24-Ashlyn Harris 

U.S. Team

• Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe are the only two players to start every game so far in 2018.
• The USA is 8-0-1 in 2018, with wins against Denmark, Germany, England, Mexico (twice), China PR (twice), Japan and a tie against France.
• The USA is unbeaten in its last 17 matches (15-0-2). The USA has outscored its opponents 53-15 through that stretch, scoring in all 17 games.

Starting Lineup

• Alyssa Naeher will collect her 31st cap tonight in her home state of Connecticut. It will be her seventh of 2018, after earning 13 in 2017. She is the fifth goalkeeper in U.S. history to earn 30 or more caps. She has 15 career shutouts.
• Emily Sonnett will earn her 19th cap tonight. It will be her fifth start of 2018. Sonnett missed the China PR games in June due to injury. She played excellent games at right back against England on March 7 and Mexico on April 5 (going 90 minutes in each) and again on April 8 vs. Mexico. Before her first appearance of this year on Jan. 21, 2018 vs. Denmark off the bench, her most recent cap had come on Oct. 19, 2016 vs. Switzerland.
• Abby Dahlkemper makes her eighth start this year and earns her 21st career cap. Dahlkemper, along with Tierna Davidson and Naeher, was one of only three players to play every minute at the 2018 SheBelieves Cup.
• Becky Sauerbrunn, who did not play against Japan in the first ToN match as the U.S. medical staff managed her comeback from a minor injury, will earn her 140th cap tonight. Sauerbrunn is in 20th place on the all-time caps list. She is one of 27 female players to play 130 or more times for the USA.
• Crystal Dunn will earn her 66th cap tonight and makes her seventh consecutive start in 2018. She will once again start tonight’s game as an outside back. She has 23 international goals.
• Julie Ertz will earn her 63rd cap tonight and has 15 international goals. The 2017 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year got 2018 off to a great start, scoring the game-winner on Jan. 21 vs. Denmark, before the knee injury caused her to miss a few games. At last year's Tournament of Nations vs. Brazil on July 30, 2017, Ertz scored the dramatic game-winner in the 89th while playing defensive midfielder, and then grew into the position the entire year, scoring five more while putting in numerous top-notch performances.
• Morgan Brian was hampered by injuries last year and played in just six games, starting two. She made her return to the field in 2018 against Germany on March 1, coming on for Carli Lloyd in the 65th minute to see her first action for the National Team since Sept. 15, 2017, when she came off the bench to play the final 16 minutes against New Zealand. On March 4, she got her first start and went the full 90 minutes. This will be her eighth appearance of 2018 and her sixth start. She will earn her 77th cap tonight at just 25 years old.
• Lindsey Horan will earn her 53rd cap. She has scored five international goals, with her most recent one coming on April 8 against Mexico.
• Tonight, Tobin Heathwill make her first U.S. WNT start since March 7, 2017. After being out of the National Team for most of 2017 and 2018 due to injuries, Heath returned to the U.S. roster for the two matches against China PR in June. She did not play in the first game, but on June 12, made her first appearance since Sept. 19, 2017, and came off the bench to score the game-winner in the 2-1 victory in Cleveland. It was her 19th international goal. Heath will earn cap No. 135 and is in 25th place on the USA’s all-time caps list. She came off the bench against Japan on July 26 and almost immediately set up a goal.
• Alex Morgan comes into the match with 89 goals after scoring her fourth career hat-trick against Japan on July 26, and will earn her 144th cap tonight. At age 29, she sits in sole possession of seventh place on the USA's all-time goal scoring list. She’s scored 16 goals over her last 16 WNT matches. She leads the WNT with nine goals in 2018.
• Megan Rapinoe makes her 139th international appearance today. She has 38 career goals after scoring against Japan on July 26. She has moved ahead of April Heinrichs and Sydney Leroux into sole possession of 15th place on the all-time goals list. She leads the USA with seven assists on the year and now has 51 for her career, sitting in seventh place in U.S. history. Rapinoe had a monster game on April 8 vs. Mexico, getting four assists and a goal while also setting up the other goal in the match.