Sophia Smith, Rose Lavelle lead U.S. women’s soccer team to 3-0 win over Colombia

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — The U.S. women’s soccer team beat Colombia, 3-0, on Saturday night in the first of a two-game series that serves as the final tuneups for next month’s World Cup and Olympic qualifying tournament.

But while the score was favorable and parts of the box score were lopsided, the game was a test. Colombia’s defense gave as good as it got, and the Americans were unable to score until Sophia Smith struck twice in the second half.

The night started as an audition for two players who started, but aren’t necessarily starters: goalkeeper Casey Murphy and striker Ashley Hatch.

Murphy had little work to do, as Colombia had just one shot and it was off target. All she really had to do was take care of a few passes back to her.

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Hatch, on the other hand, landed in the spotlight often — and not always for the better.

For example, a 21st-minute play where left back Emily Fox charged halfway up the field, then passed to Hatch in the middle of the 18-yard box. Hatch could have shot, but instead played the ball back toward Fox, and it went astray in traffic.

In the 30th, Hatch got free on the left, and played a cross toward Smith that was low and easily intercepted.

There was a better play in the 40th, when Hatch was part of a smart buildup sequence that resulted in a scoring chance. But her role came from a place in midfield, and a collision prevented her from getting upfield to contribute more.

About a minute later, Hatch put an open header wide.

As small a sample size as one half of soccer can be, national team games are made of small sample sizes. So there was fair concern when the first half ended scoreless. That the U.S. had a pile of shots in the box score didn’t matter. Rose Lavelle and Mallory Pugh missed wide, and Lindsey Horan had a penalty kick saved just before halftime.

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“I think we were just trying to find our feet in the first half, and tried to connect passes better, build that chemistry, and just get a rhythm going,” Smith said. “And I think going into the second half, we knew that’s what we had to do, and to be patient, and to not panic, and trust that the goals would come.”

When Lavelle put that shot wide, Alex Morgan applauded the effort as she stretched and jogged. It was deserved encouragement, but she knew she might replace Hatch at halftime — and she did. In addition, Ashley Sanchez replaced Horan, an even clearer sign that U.S. manager Vlatko Andonovski didn’t like what he had seen.

The second half livened up quickly, with Sanchez hitting the crossbar from 18 yards five minutes in. And the breakthrough came in the 54th: Lavelle jumped on a loose ball at midfield, sprung Smith with a pass that split two Colombian defenders, and Smith hit a first-time shot past onrushing goalkeeper Catalina Pérez from 20 yards.

Smith scored again in the 60th, with Lavelle again the provider, and this time the play was even better. Lavelle made an emphatic steal, hit a sweeping cross-field pass to Smith on the right, and she was inch-perfect with a left-footed finish.

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Now the U.S. was in its customary position.

“I saw a lot of patience, and I saw we weren’t rushing, we weren’t frantic,” centerback and captain Becky Sauerbrunn said. “I think it was very methodical: like, OK, these are the spaces that are open to us. How are we going to get the ball there? How do we do it more efficiently? And I think we just kind of wore Colombia down.”

Andonovski highlighted Sanchez’s contributions, saying she “was one of the main reasons why we got a little more sophisticated in the second half. She was able to eliminate players on the dribble, and she was able to connect well with the players around her, and also asked different questions from the defenders.”

But there were still frustrations, including another penalty kick save by Pérez — this time on Lavelle in the 70th.

Then came more substitutions. Kristie Mewis and Taylor Kornieck replaced Lavelle and Andi Sullivan in central midfield, and Megan Rapinoe replaced Pugh on the left wing.

It was Kornieck’s senior U.S. debut, coming amid her first senior team call-up, and the University of Colorado product got a warm ovation from the local crowd of 17,143 fans. Kornieck also set a record for the tallest outfield player (i.e. not a goalkeeper) in U.S. women’s team history at 6-foot-1, beating Sam Mewis by an inch.

The cheers for Kornieck grew even louder when she finished off the night with a set-piece goal, heading in a Rapinoe free kick in the 90th minute.

“I was so excited, I can’t even speak right now,” Kornieck told a throng of reporters as she stood in the bright camera lights. “It’s been my dream ever since I was a little girl. And scoring obviously wasn’t a part of the plan, but it’s a good perk.”

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