Ceci FerraraJune 29, 2015
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
UPDATE: U.S. Women defeat Germany to advance to World Cup Final
July 2, 2015
The U.S. Women’s National Team is headed to the World Cup Final. They extended their scoreless streak with a 2-0 shutout of Germany in the Semifinal Tuesday night. Their rock-solid defense has not allowed a goal since the opening match of the Women’s World Cup, though at times it seemed like No. 1 Germany would break through.
15-minutes into the second half, Germany was poised to break the 0-0 deadlock. USA’s Julie Johnston got a foul in the penalty area, which led to a Yellow card for her and a Penalty kick for Germany’s Celia Sasic. It seemed like a sure-fire goal: Germany was perfect in World Cup penalty kicks (17 for 17) and Sasic was the tournament’s lead scorer. Yet her goal missed–by a lot–wide left.
The U.S. team celebrated as Sasic and her teammates seemed dumbfounded. Perhaps they knew they had missed their chance. Six minutes later US team captain Carli Lloyd nailed a penalty kick for a 1-0 lead, and with under 10 minutes left, substitute Kelly O’Hara scored on a cross by Lloyd for what would be the game winning goal. The U.S. will now face the winner of the England-Japan game, who play Wednesday. While the U.S. Women hope to beat any opponent, a victory against Japan would be especially sweet–they lost to them in the 2011 World Cup Final.
The U.S. Women’s National Team continued their tournament domination on Friday with a fourth consecutive shutout. Their 1-0 victory of China PR advanced them to the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Semifinal.
After almost an hour of scoreless play Carli Lloyd, the team’s captain, headed in the game’s only goal in the 53rd minute. Lloyd, who was playing in her 200th cap, has a history of shining under pressure. The 32-year old central midfielder scored game-winning goals for the U.S. Women’s National Team in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Finals. They won Gold both times.
Despite her impressive career, one accolade that has alluded her has been a World Cup trophy. Which is perhaps why Lloyd couldn’t celebrate her game-winning goal on Friday as much as her teammates or fans.
“If it were the World Cup final it would definitely be the moment,” Lloyd said. “But, it’s a quarterfinal, which is still great but I want more and I think that’s what keeps me going and keeps me motivated. I want to be in that final game and standing on the top podium after that final whistle is blown.”
So far, Lloyd and her teammates have done as much as they can to get there.
Behind goalie Hope Solo the US has held opponents scoreless for 423 straight minutes so far this tournament–the longest streak in U.S. World Cup history. The victory was also a career milestone for Solo–with 134 victories, she moved into first place on the USA’s all-time list. Retired goalkeeper Brianna Scurry (133-12-14) previously held that record.
The U.S. has now reached the Semifinal in all seven Women’s World Cups dating back to 1991. They have won twice, most recently in 1999. With the desire to end the drought and bring the trophy back home at the forefront of their minds, the U.S. Women will face Germany on Tuesday, June 30.
Nationals
In his second start since returning from the disabled list, Stephen Strasburg looked like he was returning to his former self after struggling with neck and back injuries earlier in the season.
Strasburg (5-5) struck out a season-high nine batters on Sunday afternoon, allowing just two runs on four hits and a walk over seven strong innings.
“He pitched great,” Nationals manager Matt Williams said. “No restrictions up to 110 pitches. Good fastball, even in the last inning….It’s nice that he’s healthy. That’s nice that he’s going out there and had no issues. When he doesn’t, that could be the result.”
Strasburg is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA since his return on June 23rd. His last two outings have eased the minds of those who thought his best days may have been behind him. So far, it seems only the injuries were what was hindering his performance, and not something deeper.
“Fastball command was good. The changeup is starting to come back to me, and I’m executing it a lot better,” Strasburg said. “The curveball was there, too. It’s good trying to get into a routine. Everything is feeling good. I’m going to stick to the program and keep moving forward.”
The victory was the eighth straight for Washington, who hadn’t lost since June 18th. Unfortunately, their streak was snapped later that evening when they lost 5-8 in the second game of their double header against the Phillies.
Ceci Ferrara
