W Gold Cup begins with USA 5 - Dominican Republic 0
Quick thoughts on the first group stage match for the USWNT
Reader: the start of a rather consequential year for the US Women’s National Team is officially upon us. Recalibration of last year’s face plant in Melbourne awaits. The spirit of evolution pervades the coming weeks, as Twila Kilgore prepares a humbled program for a redemption-run when the Olympics arrive, and Emma Hayes takes the helm.
The new quest began last evening in California, as the first edition of the Concacaf W Gold Cup kicked off. I previewed the importance of this tournament for The Guardian here.
Quick rundown on the format:
Over the next three weeks, twelve teams from across the Western Hemisphere compete in a tournament that mimics the cadence of the Olympics, providing the potential to play up to six games (if you make the final) with a two day rest between games (at least in the group stage for the Gold Cup). Teams are reseeded after the group stage based on performance (starting with total points, tiebreakers to follow). The number one seed meets the number eight seed, the number two seed meets the seven seed, etc., in the quarterfinal. The final is in San Diego on March 10.
🇲🇽🇦🇷🇺🇸🇩🇴 🇧🇷🇵🇦🇨🇴🇵🇷 🇨🇦🇨🇷🇵🇾🇸🇻
Group A: Mexico, Argentina, USA, Dominican Republic
Group B: Brazil, Panama, Colombia, Puerto Rico
Group C: Canada, Costa Rica, Paraguay, El Salvador
Last night, Mexico and Argentina opened Group A with a 0-0 draw in a rain-soaked California stadium. The US claimed a 5-0 victory over the Dominican Republic just after.
With the USWNT’s first match complete, and ideally five more to go should they reach the final, here’s what’s on my mind so far:
Experiments, experience
Getting experience and opportunity to the next generation was the theme of Kilgore’s roster, and it was the theme of the opening match. With Alex Morgan called in to replace Mia Fishel (more below), just 12 of the 23 in camp were on last summer’s World Cup roster.
Of last night’s starting XI, four of them did so with fewer than ten caps: Olivia Moultrie (3rd cap), Korbin Albert (2nd cap), Jenna Nighswonger (3rd cap), and Sam Coffey (8th cap). They did so alongside four veterans from the 2019 trophy-lifting side.
Kilgore, on a key takeaway from the evening being experience for newcomers, said she was: “...really pleased to get some more experience for some of our less experienced players, where there's a little bit of an experience gap, but lots of talent.”
The formation was fluid and heavy in the attack. Players like 18-year-old Olivia Moultrie, who collected two goals in her first start, were calm and composed in tight spaces to break down a well-organized team. Kilgore: “...We're really, really pleased with Olivia. She's one of these players that I'm kind of speaking in… a little bit of an experience gap, compared to some of the other players, but certainly not a gap in talent. And so these games are really, really important.”
Kilgore continued, on what Moultrie did well:
“It's hard to play against teams that play with five back or multiple players in the midfield. They had two pretty good banks of defenders and she was able to find space in the pocket a few times. We really challenged her as the game went on to continue to find space where she was, instead of coming down below, and I think she accepted that challenge pretty well, and made a difference later in her minutes. And obviously, super pleased for her to get a first goal, and another goal…”
Olivia Moultrie’s pair of goals in the 7th and 58th minute make her the third player 18 or younger to score multiple goals in a single match for the USWNT. She’s also the youngest to score in a competitive match since Mallory Swanson at the 2016 Olympics.
Midge Purce (who fell just short of the ‘23 World Cup roster) helped set up both of Moultrie’s goals, as well as one for Lynn Williams. Watching her work wonders from the wing, taking players on, creating width, making space on the dribble before setting up every non-penalty goal of the evening was a delight. (It also felt like a continuation of the 2023 NWSL Championship, when Purce was named match MVP after assisting both of Gotham’s goals that evening).
Speaking to Jenny Chiu in the post match, Purce talked about how she sharpened her role as a creator, not just a goalscorer, to prove she should be in this roster:
“I think the next step for me was prioritizing playmaking, more than getting that final touch in the goal. I mean, I want to score goals. I don't know what forward doesn't. But I think the evolution of a good winger is to create for their nine, and create for the other forwards. So that's what I'm really focused on right now.”
Purce noted that playing against a low block allowed their creativity to come out, and hopes to bring that freedom into Friday’s match against Argentina. Of their goal-scoring game-plan, Purce said:
“Twila gave a really good game plan. We worked a lot tactically about getting into those spaces, and getting into the one vs. one zone, and making a lot more tactical goals in the sense where we want tap-ins, we want easy goals, easy finishes in that goal zone.”
There’s something poetic about the standout players from last evening being Olivia Moultrie, whose lawsuit against NWSL (insisting she be able to go pro at 15) ushered in a new era of ever-younger players turning professional, and Midge Purce, who missed the World Cup roster but worked to ensure she’s in the picture now. This W Gold Cup, the younger talent and the “bubble” players are getting their chance to show out, and so far, they are.
Alongside Moultrie’s brace, Lynn Williams scored her 18th international goal, and both Alex Morgan and Jenna Nighswonger scored from the penalty spot. Alongside Moultrie, 20-year-old PSG midfielder Korbin Albert also made her first start, and did well with the opportunity.
FIVE-NIL. A big win?
5-0 sounds like a resounding win. But was it?
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Swan Dive with Meg Swanick to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.