The United States women’s national team started the inaugural CONCACAF W Gold Cup just how they wanted: with a 5-0 win over the Dominican Republic on Tuesday night.
With a unique lineup that featured plenty of younger faces, interim head coach Twila Kilgore — and by default, head coach Emma Hayes — got a first look at how this version of the USWNT would perform in a major tournament game.
Olivia Moultrie had a brace in her first start, Lynn Williams scored a goal after her first one got called back, and Jenna Nighswonger and Alex Morgan put their respective penalty kicks away.
Here are a few quick takeaways from the match:
Emma Hayes’ fingerprints are noticeable
The U.S. came out in a different kind of formation than we’ve seen recently. Playing in what appeared to be a 3-2-4-1 — though they were in a 4-3-3 at times — the squad showed its ability to play fluid and free instead of rigid, like were criticized for doing at last summer’s World Cup.
Though Hayes, who was hired as the new head coach in November, will not join the USWNT until later this spring after Chelsea’s season is over, Kilgore is implementing her philosophy now. And this game showed how Hayes and Kilgore are collaborating and experimenting and trying out new things with their talent.
For example, sometimes Midge Purce looked like a right back and other times she was toying with a defender on the right wing. Outside backs Jenna Nighswonger and Emily Fox played higher in the attack. Kilgore made plenty of subs and showed the Dominican Republic multiple looks. The Americans had an interchangeable and free-flowing lineup, which led to scoring chances, one-on-one matchups and, ultimately, goals.
“Super free,” Purce told the broadcast after the game. “I think that we were playing against a low block, so that gave us the opportunity for creativity and we have a lot of creative players on the front line. It was a fun day.”
Stars on the bench
The Gold Cup is ideal preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which begin in July. The tournaments are similar as it pertains to cadence of games and peaking at the right time. And to stay fresh in a major tournament, the USWNT will need to utilize everybody, especially given the fact that at the Olympics, rosters are limited to 18 players.
That’s why Hayes and Kilgore need to make sure every player — no matter how many caps or level of experience — is ready to go.
In Tuesday’s match, most of the stars everyone is accustomed to seeing in a lineup sat on the bench to start. Lindsey Horan, Naomi Girma and Crystal Dunn did not play. Emily Fox, Rose Lavelle, Trinity Rodman and Alex Morgan didn’t start, but they all came on in the second half. Morgan, who was called up Monday after Mia Fishel tore her ACL in training, converted from the penalty spot late in the second half. Afterward, she pumped her fist, relieved to have scored her first goal for the USWNT in almost exactly a year.
While Morgan is fighting to reclaim her spot in time for the Olympics, so too are players like Purce, Moultrie, Nighswonger, Korbin Albert and Sam Coffey, who all put in solid minutes and hope to get more as the tournament continues and the opponents get tougher.
Breakout game for Olivia Moultrie
The 18-year-old Moultrie scored her first and second goals for the USWNT in just her third cap (and first ever start). She was just the third player in USWNT history to score multiple goals in a game at age 18 or younger.
Her first goal came in the eighth minute when Purce charged down the right side toward goal, slipped a ball near post to Sophia Smith, who deflected it backwards where Moultrie was waiting to tap it in.
In the 58th minute, Purce was on the attack again. This time she stepped up in the right corner of the box and sent a ball hurling towards the goal where Moultrie was well positioned to finish and put the U.S. up 3-0.
A little while later, Moultrie had a brief scary moment when she landed on her left ankle weirdly, but she was able to walk it off and get back in the game.
Before being called up to the last few USWNT training camps, Moultrie was perhaps best known for turning pro when she was 13 years old in 2019. Now, she has the opportunity to potentially play a role for the U.S. at the Olympics later this year.
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.
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