The U.S. women's national team wasted no time, scoring in the third minute in an eventual 2-0 victory over Sweden at the Women's World Cup
The play started with a low corner kick from Megan Rapinoe that skipped toward the near post, where Samantha Mewis got just the slightest touch on the ball, redirecting it into the path of Horan, who banged it in from the center of the six-yard box.
In was the Americans’ third goal on a corner kick in two games. For Mewis, a surprise starter in place of Julie Ertz, the assist was her third of the tournament.Heath doubled the lead in the 50th minute, collecting a looping pass intended for Carli Lloyd just outside the six-yard box, backing Swedish defender Jonna Andersson toward the goal, then chipping a shot over her and under the crossbar at the far post from a tough angle.
For the U.S., Thursday’s game marked a return to the ocean-blue stadium on the Normandy coast for the first time since it lost to France here in January. That game remains the only one the Americans have dropped in the last 23 months. They hardly needed to introduce themselves to Sweden since the teams were meeting for a record sixth time in Women’s World Cup play. All six meetings have come in group play, where the U.S. has lost just once in 24 games – to Sweden, in 2011.
After opening this tournament with a 13-0 rout of Thailand and a 3-0 win over Chile, U.S. coach Jill Ellis – unbeaten in 10 games as a World Cup coach -- was hoping to see her team challenged before beginning the unforgiving elimination stages.Sweden only managed it in spurts, with its best chance at a goal coming in first-half stoppage time when Sofia Jakobsson’s curling shot from the right wing seemed headed in at the far post before U.S.
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