Twila Kilgore on USWNT's offensive display vs. China: 'That is us'
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — The U.S. women's national team has yet to lose a game since its disappointing performance at this summer's World Cup. And on Saturday, that streak kept going with a 3-0 win over China in the first of a pair of friendlies to finish out 2023.
The victory comes on the heels of an energizing visit from new head coach Emma Hayes, who was able to briefly meet with the team here this week. Hayes won't take over fully, however, until Chelsea's season concludes in May.
Even though Hayes won't be able to solely focus on the USWNT for the next five months, she and interim head coach Twila Kilgore have hatched a plan to communicate and collaborate regularly so that the squad can be in better shape heading into the 2024 Paris Olympics, which begin in July.
"100% she was watching live," Kilgore said after the game. "And I will look forward to talking to her when she's ready and has time to do that and get her viewpoints and we'll go from there."
There were a few interesting wrinkles thrown into Saturday's match, including the U.S. coming out in what appeared to be a 4-2-2-2 formation and changing its shape at various points in the game. The team was also noticeable better in maintaining possession in the buildup, which created more attacking opportunities.
Here are a few quick takeaways from Saturday's match:
Play of the game:
In just the eighth minute, Trinity Rodman controlled a long ball from Naomi Girma deep in the left corner and sent a perfect cross to Sophia Smith, who cut in front of Chinese goalkeeper Xu Huan to slot the ball into the back of the net. It was the NWSL Golden Boot winner's 15th goal in 37 caps.
Perhaps more importantly, the goal happened after strong build up from the back that led to the attack. This was something the USWNT struggled to do throughout the World Cup, and Kilgore did hint on Friday that we might see some new things the squad has been working on in this match.
"I was really, really pleased with the first goal. That is us," Kilgore said. "That’s football as we play it. It was a very good team goal and a moment that we should repeat more often.
"We did a really good job of recognizing space in behind and a runner in behind, but I think actually the most important part about that goal is that we had sustained possession first. We saw [Emily] Fox and Lindsey Horan having a bit of interchange in that 3-2 buildup shape, and then we chose to play that penetrating pass and it caused some problems for China."
Smith, who looked like she was out for some kind of World Cup performance revenge, nearly scored two more times in the next five minutes. The first chance was a shot toward the top left corner of the goal that Huan heroically dove to save. The second came 60 seconds later when Smith ran through several defenders to get a shot off, but Huan saved it again.
Turning point:
Lindsey Horan's goal from distance to put the USWNT up 2-0 early in the second half. In the 52nd minute, the captain — who was well outside the 18-yard-box — was looking to chip the ball into Jaedyn Shaw waiting in the right spot. Horan's shot went just over Shaw's head and took a slow bounce into the goal. At first glance, it should have been an easy save by Huan, but the goalkeeper appeared to get stuck thinking that Shaw would get a touch on it.
A shocked Horan was greeted by a laughing Rose Lavelle, and it was a welcome second goal for the U.S. after it missed too many open chances in front of the net in the first half.
"We have to be more clinical in our finishing," Kilgore said. "I was disappointed that we didn't have more goals going into [halftime]. I felt like that was a standard that we just didn't achieve."
Kilgore said the team's xG, or expected goals, was at 3.5 after the game thanks to their sustained possession.
"I think we should overshoot that and be outperforming our xG and we didn't quite hit that," Kilgore said.
Horan's goal did open things up a bit. The U.S. continued to wear China down in the Florida heat and ultimately, added another goal in the 77th minute from Rodman, who tallied two assists plus a goal in the win. Her goal came off the build-up from the right side when Midge Purce found Shaw, who slipped it across the goal to an open Rodman waiting at the back door.
Key stat:
Horan is the only player on this roster with more than 100 caps (she has 138 after Saturday's match), and only six players have 50 or more, including Rose Lavelle (92), Emily Sonnett (82), Abby Dahlkemper (80), Lynn Williams (58) and Tierna Davidson (50).
Eleven players in camp had fewer than 10 caps, including three — 18-year-old Olivia Moultrie, 20-year-old Korbin Albert and 23-year-old Jenna Nighswonger — who came in with none. Nighswonger and Moultire both made their debuts on Saturday, earning meaningful minutes in the second half.
When Kilgore released the roster for this camp a few weeks ago, the first observation was that there were a lot of newer and younger faces taking the place of veterans. Ten players from this summer's World Cup team — including starters Alex Morgan, Crystal Dunn, Andi Sullivan and Alyssa Naher — were not called up. But, at least for now, their absence doesn't mean anything other than Kilgore and Hayes want to expand the player pool ahead of the Paris Olympics.
What's next for the USWNT?
The U.S. will face China again on Tuesday in Frisco, Texas for its final game of the year. After some much-needed time off — unless you are Horan and Mia Fishel and playing in the Champions League — the team will reconvene early next year as it continues preparations for the inaugural CONCACAF Gold Cup in February and March, as well as the Paris Olympics in July and August.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.
