Lineup Notes: USA-Japan Rivalry to Write New Chapter in Kansas City at ToN2018

USA vs. Japan 
Date: July 26, 2018 
Venue: Children’s Mercy Park; Kansas City, Kansas 
Broadcast: FS1 
Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. ET

Tonight’s Starting XI vs. Japan: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 22-Emily Sonnett, 7-Abby Dahlkemper, 12-Tierna Davidson, 19-Crystal Dunn; 2-Julie Ertz, 9-Lindsey Horan, 6-Morgan Brian; 23-Christen Press, 13-Alex Morgan (capt.), 15-Megan Rapinoe

Subs: 3-Samantha Mewis, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 5-McCall Zerboni, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 10-Carli Lloyd, 11-Merritt Mathias, 14-Casey Short, 16-Rose Lavelle, 17-Tobin Heath, 20-Allie Long, 21-Adrianna Franch, 24-Ashlyn Harris

U.S. Team

• Tierna Davidson, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe are the only three players to start every game so far in 2018.
• The USA is 7-0-1 in 2018, with wins against Denmark, Germany, England, Mexico (twice), China PR (twice), along with a tie against France.
• The USA is unbeaten in its last 16 matches (14-0-2). The USA has outscored its opponents 49-13 through that stretch, scoring in all 16 games.

Starting Lineup

• Alyssa Naeher will collect her 30th cap tonight, and seventh of 2018, after earning 13 in 2017. She is the fifth goalkeeper in U.S. history to earn 30 or more caps. She’s allowed 14 goals in her 29 caps, but six came over two games, a 3-0 loss to France at the 2017 SheBelieves Cup and vs. Brazil in the 4-3 win at the 2017 Tournament of Nations. She has 15 career shutouts.
• Emily Sonnett will earn her 18th cap tonight. It will be her fourth 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 seventh start this year and earns her 20th career cap. Dahlkemper, along with Tierna Davidson and Naeher, was one of only three players to play every minute at the 2018 SheBelieves Cup.
• Crystal Dunn will earn her 65th cap tonight and makes her sixth consecutive start in 2018. Before her start on March 7 against England, Dunn hadn’t started since July 30, 2017 against Brazil at the Tournament of Nations. She will once again start tonight’s game as an outside back, a position she played during the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and at the beginning of her senior WNT career. She has 23 international goals.
• Tierna Davidson is making her ninth consecutive start in as many international appearances. She has played the most minutes of anyone on the team (689). On Jan. 21 in San Diego, she became the 21st woman to make a WNT debut under Jill Ellis. She posted her first career assist on that game. The 19-year-old Davidson helped lead Stanford to the NCAA Championship this past season. She is the third teenager since 2013 to earn a first cap for the U.S. WNT. Mallory Pugh (17 in 2016) and Lindsey Horan (19 in 2013) are the most recent teenagers to debut for the WNT.
• Julie Ertz will earn her 62nd 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 seventh appearance of 2018 and her fifth start. She will earn her 76^thcap tonight and is the 42nd female player in U.S. history to play 75 or more times. She is still just 25 years old.
• Lindsey Horan will earn her 52^ndcap tonight, becoming the 55th U.S. female player to hit that mark. She has scored five international goals, with her most recent one coming on April 8 against Mexico.
• Christen Press will earn cap 101st tonight. On June 12 against China PR, she became the 37th woman in U.S. WNT history to reach the century mark. Press has 44 career goals, most recently scoring on a brilliant strike from distance against Korea Republic on Oct. 22 of last year. She is in 14th place on the all-time WNT goals list and with one more goal will tie Julie Foudy for 13th place. She averages just under a goal every two games (0.45 goals per game) and 0.82 goals per every 90 minutes she’s been on the field.
• Alex Morgan comes into the match with 86 goals and will earn her 143rd 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 13 goals over her last 15 WNT matches, with her most recent being the lone goal of the match against China PR on June 7. She leads the WNT with six goals in 2018.
• Megan Rapinoe makes her 138th international appearance today. She has 37 career goals after scoring against China PR on June 12. 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 six assists on the year and now has 50 for her career, tied with Carli Lloyd and Shannon MacMillan for seventh 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.