2021 WNT Send-Off Series, Presented by Visa
Date: July 5, 2021
Venue: Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field; East Hartford, Conn.
Broadcast: ESPN, TUDN.tv, TUDN App
Broadcast Time: 5:00 p.m. ET
Official Kickoff Time: 5:09 p.m. ET
Starting XI vs. Mexico: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 5-Kelley O’Hara, 17-Abby Dahlkemper, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (Capt.), 2-Crystal Dunn; 9-Lindsey Horan, 3-Samantha Mewis, 16-Rose Lavelle; 7-Tobin Heath, 10-Carli Lloyd, 11-Christen Press
Available Subs: 6-Kristie Mewis, 12-Tierna Davidson, 13-Alex Morgan, 14-Emily Sonnett, 15-Megan Rapinoe, 18-Adrianna Franch, 19-Catarina Macario
U.S. WNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Lloyd (306), Sauerbrunn (188), Heath (171), Press (149), O’Hara (140), Dunn (116), Horan (98), S. Mewis (77), Naeher (73), Dahlkemper (71), Lavelle (56)
Tonight’s Starting XI features three changes from the lineup that took on Mexico on July 1: Rose Lavelle for Kristie Mewis in the midfield, and Heath for Rapinoe and Lloyd for Morgan up top
Becky Sauerbrunn will captain the side in her 188th cap for the USWNT. The 36-year-old Sauerbrunn leads the team in minutes played in 2021 at 810 minutes and has helped the U.S. to a clean sheet in each of her last four appearances for the USWNT.
Connecticut native Alyssa Naeher will earn her 73rd cap, playing less than 60 miles from her hometown of Stratford, Connecticut. Naeher, who is third for goalkeepers in USWNT history in both caps and shutouts (42) has two previous caps in Connecticut, a 1-1 draw against Australia on July 29, 2018, at Rentschler Field and the 4-0 victory over Mexico on July 1.
Kelley O’Hara will make her seventh start of 2021 and is set to earn her 140th cap overall. This will be the sixth start in the last seven games for O’Hara, who was named to her third Olympic roster and becomes the 23rd player in USWNT history to earn 140 or more caps.
Abby Dahlkemper will make her 71st appearance for the USWNT, which will also be her 64th start in 71 caps. Dahlkemper, who led the USA in total minutes in both 2019 and 2020, was named to her first Olympic roster and became the 50th player in USWNT history to reach the 70-cap milestone with her 90-minute performance against Mexico on July 1.
Long Island native Crystal Dunn will make her 11th appearance and 10th start of 2021 with tonight’s match against Mexico, pushing her overall cap total to 116. Dunn will have now played in 41 of the USA’s 45 games since the start of 2019, making 39 starts over that span. She is third on the team in total minutes played in 2021 with 739.
Lindsey Horan will make her 98th international appearance tonight, continuing to close in on the 100-cap milestone. Horan has appeared in every game for the USA so far in 2021 – a distinction she shares with Carli Lloyd – and tallied a goal or an assist in 11 of her last 19 appearances for the USA, with nine goals and seven assists during that span. Prior to the 2021 Send-Off Series, in the USA’s last trip to Hartford, Horan scored in the final minute of regulation for the equalizing goal in a 1-1 draw vs. Australia in the 2018 Tournament of Nations.
Massachusetts native Samantha Mewis will earn her 77th cap for the USWNT and is tied for second on the team in scoring with five goals in 2021. Mewis has been directly involved in seven goals this year, with five goals and two assists, and has either scored or assisted in three of the USA’s last four outings.
Rose Lavelle returns to the USA lineup for her 10th appearance of 2021 and 56th career cap overall. The first time Olympian and Bronze Ball winner at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Lavelle has accounted for three of the USA’s 11 game-winning goals (two goals and one assist on game-winners) since the resumption of play in November 2020.
Tobin Heath will earn her second cap of 2021 and make her first start of the year in today’s match against Mexico. Heath – who is set to earn her 171st career cap and is making her fourth trip to the Olympics – scored less than 60 seconds after taking the field as a second-half substitute on July 1 vs Mexico, which marked her first game action for club or country since December 20, 2020. Heath’s most recent start for the USWNT came against the Netherlands on November 27, 2020.
Also headed to her fourth Olympics, Carli Lloyd will earn her 306th cap for the USWNT in what will be her 12th appearance of 2021. One of only two players to appear in every match this year and the oldest player on the roster, Lloyd currently leads the team with five assists on the year. She has tallied a goal or an assist in 14 of her last 24 appearances for the USWNT, with 12 goals and 10 assists total over that stretch.
Christen Press will earn her 149th cap tonight and will make her ninth consecutive start, the longest streak of consecutive starts in her USWNT career. Press has now started 11 of the last 12 matches for which she has been available and is in the middle of one of the finest stretches of her career as she has been directly involved in 36 goals in her last 36 games for the USWNT.
Press has either scored or assisted in 17 of her last 20 games for the USA, including each of her last five outings. Since the start of 2019, Press leads the USWNT with 19 assists and is third in scoring with 17 goals over that span.