The U.S. women’s national team survived a grueling test against Colombia in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup on Sunday, winning 3-0 with goals from Lindsey Horan, Jenna Nighswonger, and Jaedyn Shaw.
While both teams tried to set the tone early, the USWNT was able to weather both Colombia’s attacks, which often relied solely on Linda Caicedo, and a bevy of yellow cards from physical challenges. The result was also further evidence that Naomi Girma and Shaw are must-have USWNT starters.
Early penalty set the tone
In the 11th minute, Colombia center back Jorelyn Carabali shoulder-checked Alex Morgan, resulting in a penalty kick for the U.S. and a yellow card for Carabali. Could this foul have been considered denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO), without an attempt made to play the ball? It was certainly a debate amongst ourselves in the moment, but the foul was only the beginning of the spiciness. If nothing else, it was a reminder that Morgan’s had her body on the line for this team for a long while.
Morgan claimed the ball, and for a long two minutes, withstood most of the attempts from Colombia to delay the penalty kick, before Trinity Rodman and Sam Coffey eventually headed over as well — with the USWNT favoring the usual handoff for this one.
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