OT: Soccer - USWNT vs Australia Game 2

Submitted by I Bleed Maize N Blue on

In Pia Sundhage's final game as US coach, the WNT gave her a fine farewell with a 6-2 victory over the Matildas.

Alex Morgan was great, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists.  In the 25' she chased down an errant clearance to the left of goal.  Her cross went all the way across the box to the top right, where Heather O'Reilly got to it, and her low shot deflected off a defender's foot an into goal.  The team went over to the sideline and strummed air guitars in reference to the signed guitar they had given to their coach.

The game suddenly changed several minutes later when speedy Lisa de Vanna ran onto a nice entry pass and poked the ball past Hope Solo for the equalizer in 32', then Aussie captain Sarah Walsh, in her last game, got the go-ahead goal in 34' when Kelley O'Hara missed a clearance attempt.

A few minutes before the half, Tobin Heath started a nice series of passes by putting one through the legs of a Matilda to Alex Morgan, who touched it wide to Kelley O'Hara, who cut it back to Alex, who took a couple of touches and put it in the far side of the net in 43'.  It was good to go into halftime 2-2.

The second half was all US.  In 53' a weak clearance deflected off another Matilda at the top of the box where Alex Morgan pounced on in, shooting low.  It deflected off of Abby Wambach's foot high into the air, bouncing inside 6-yard line with a lot of topspin and into goal.

Alex got her 2nd goal of the night (34th international) in 63' when Heather Mitts crossed from the right corner, and Alex, not very closely marked in front of goal, headed it in.

In the next minute she settled a high long ball outside of the box, but her shot hit the left post.

Megan Rapinoe assisted on the last two goals, first on a corner headed in by Shannon Boxx in 69', then in 82' on a free kick headed in by Sydney Leroux.

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There are a couple of friendlies scheduled with Germany on 10/20 (Bridgeview, IL, time TBD) and 10/23 (E Hartford, CT @ 7:30 PM ET), and the announcers talked about possibly a couple more TBD.  No definitive timetable on hiring a new coach, but maybe by the end of October

The sideline reporter said she talked to some players about what they were looking for in a new coach, and they said someone who will earn their respect quickly.  The announcers interpreted that as someone who will "crack the whip" when necessary.