CHARLOTTE — An announced crowd of 30,071 fans – the largest ever to watch the U.S. women’s national team play in the state of North Carolina – got to see Jill Ellis net another victory in her penultimate match at the helm of the world champions.
Superstar forward Megan Rapinoe notched a pair of assists and the American defense kept a clean sheet against a feisty South Korea team for a 2-0 win Thursday night at Bank of America Stadium, the latest stop in their World Cup victory tour.
With the win — the 106th for Ellis — she set a new record for the most victories at the helm of the USWNT, surpassing the late Tony DiCicco, who coached the team to its 1999 World Cup victory.
“Wins, man. We’ve just been winning since she got here,” Rapinoe said of Ellis. “I think sometimes when you’re in it, it’s hard to take that step back and have perspective, but this run has been extremely successful for us… The next coach has big shoes to step into.”
From the beginning of the match, it was clear that injuries and the fatigue from a long NWSL season and a multi-stop victory tour was catching up with the Americans as seven players were held out for injury, include stars Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath. Meanwhile, South Korea looked like a squad with something to prove after losing all three group stage games at the World Cup.
Julie Ertz put a good chance off the crossbar in the early minutes, and a handful of errors by the U.S. allowed for attacks from South Korea. Ashlyn Harris and the American defense kept their goal empty, though.
[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”745″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_imagebrowser” ajax_pagination=”0″ template=”default” ngg_triggers_display=”never” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]
Despite the lack of sharpness from the Americans and the scrappiness of the South Koreans, the U.S. did pull ahead by a goal just before halftime, by way of a connection between two Reign FC teammates.
In the third minute of stoppage time, Mallory Pugh was fouled outside of the right corner of the box. Rapinoe served up a right-footed lob on a free kick, which needed just one strike from Allie Long’s left foot to sneak between the near post and South Korea’s Kim Minjung.
After Long buried the attempt, Rapinoe stood at the top of the box with her arms raised. Long pointed at her teammate, at then Rapinoe leapt into her arms.
“All I know is ‘Pinoe serves it in hard and she serves it in fast,” Long said. “She is spot-on half the time, so I just needed to beat my player to the spot… It was just a perfect service.”
That cross. That finish.
So fetch, @ALLIE_LONG & @mPinoe 👏 pic.twitter.com/LaXYv8Hmwa— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) October 4, 2019
In her 49th national team appearance, it was the eighth goal for Long in the Stars-and-Stripes. The campaign in France was the first World Cup for Long.
Long was subbed off at halftime for Christen Press, while Crystal Dunn – playing left back, again – came off for Tierna Davidson. In the 67th minute, Rose Lavelle was called off for fellow Washington Spirit teammate Andi Sullivan, who appeared in her 12th game for the U.S.
Sullivan, 24, was added to the U.S. roster for the pair of games vs. South Korea due to numerous injuries to American stars. She is having a solid NWSL campaign with two goals and 32 tackles over 22 starts.
Press showed off her fast feet several times in the second half, but was denied a few goal-scoring chances late in the game, thwarted by Minjung. In the 70th minute, Press danced around Minjung and looked to have a shot at an open goal, but banged the shot off the post. Her rebound attempt was stopped by a South Korea defender. Minjung saved another Press attempt in the 74th minute.
“South Korea, they were very good offensively. They kind of took it at us. It was nice to have a little bit of a challenge,” said Jessica McDonald, who subbed on for Rapinoe in the 78th minute. “It’s always nice to play an opponent that’s not just going to back off of us just because we’re the USA. So, the fact that they were a little aggressive today, it’s kind of nice, because so were we. We like a challenge.”
The U.S. netted their second goal of the night minutes later, when Rapinoe found the noggin of Pugh for her second assist on the night. Left unmarked by several feet by the right post, Pugh simply hopped up and redirected Rapinoe’s corner kick into the net with a slight turn of her head. It was Pugh’s 18th career goal with the national team.
Two for you #USWNT, you go #USWNT!
That header from @MalPugh was just 👌. pic.twitter.com/pi797AnFvM
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) October 4, 2019
This was the first time the USWNT had played a game in Charlotte since 2000, when they drew Iceland 0-0 in a warm-up game prior to the Sydney Olympics. For Dunn, who played her college soccer at UNC-Chapel Hill and plays professionally for the N.C. Courage, the match atmosphere felt familiar.
“It was a great crowd. With it being so close to the Raleigh and Cary area that we play in – you know, North Carolina has been a home for me,” Dunn said. “Going to college here, playing professionally here, I think it was really special to have this game here tonight.”
Ellis will conclude her tenure as head coach of the U.S. women’s national team on Sunday in Chicago, where the Americans will play against South Korea for a second time. The game is set for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN.