Powered by a goal and an assist each from forwards Lynn Williams and debutant Emma Sears, both second half subs, the U.S. Women’s National Team came from behind in emphatic fashion to defeat Iceland, 3-1.
USA 3 Iceland 1
Report by USSoccer.com
Midfielder Lindsey Horan, another second-half sub, netted the 76th-minute game winner off a cross from Williams as the Americans overturned a first-half deficit before 17,018 fans and remained unbeaten (11W-0L-1D) under head coach Emma Hayes. Sears, who set up Williams’ equalizer, then capped off the evening with a stoppage-time strike becoming just the fourth player in program history to tally both a goal and an assist in her first cap.
Sunday’s triumph in Nashville followed a 3-1 win over Iceland on Oct. 24 in Austin, Texas, where the second and third U.S. goals came in the final five minutes. Ranked 13th in the world, Iceland defended with resolve for long stretches in both matches, but the relentless, top-ranked Americans wouldn’t be denied.
This month’s matches are the USWNT’s first since claiming a record fifth Olympic gold medal in August. Fresh off that success and nearly three years out from the next FIFA Women’s World Cup, this was a perfect time for Hayes and her staff to get a look at some less-experienced players. And so, three days after choosing a lineup that averaged 72 caps and 27.8 years of age, Hayes made seven changes and selected an XI that averaged 39 caps and 25.5 years of age.
Only three today’s starters had more than 30 career USWNT appearances and for the first time since April 2018, there were two teenagers on the field at kickoff: 19-year-olds Olivia Moultrie and Jaedyn Shaw. In addition, Orlando Pride center back Emily Sams, a 25-year-old Olympian who earned a gold medal but didn’t see any action this summer in France, started in her USWNT debut.
First Half
Forward Mallory Swanson, who was honored pre-game for earning her 100th cap in the gold medal match in Paris – a game in which she also tallied the only goal — captained the side for the first time. It was Swanson who’d have the Americans’ first decent scoring chance in the 11th minute when she brought down a well-hit switch by right wing Yazmeen Ryan (who was making her first career start in her second career cap) and fired a hard, left-footed shot that was saved by Iceland goalkeeper Cecilía Rúnarsdóttir.
The USA played proactively and at a good pace while searching for the right connections and chemistry. Several combinations and partnerships were relatively untested, and the Americans were facing an opponent that had demonstrated its defensive quality for the first 85 minutes of the first meeting in Austin. The energetic hosts tried to pass and move quickly, however, and they tilted the field toward Iceland’s end for most of the first half, even as Hayes tinkered with the alignment. Iceland mostly sought to play through VfL Wolfsburg striker Sveindís Jónsdóttir, their leading scorer, on the counter.
It was a dribbling run by Jónsdóttir, and a vigorous one-on-one battle with U.S. center back Emily Sonnett, that led to an Iceland corner kick and set up the visitors’ shocking opener.
Midfielder Karólína Vilhjálmsdóttir sent her 31st-minute corner from the left side high and bending toward the far post. U.S. goalkeeper Casey Murphy jumped and got her hand to it but couldn’t keep the ball from bouncing off the inside of the right post and over the goal line. It was Iceland’s first shot of the game. The USA now trailed under Hayes for the first time, and Murphy’s personal streak of eight straight shutouts, equal to the second-longest in USWNT history, was snapped.
Second Half
Hayes made three changes at halftime, bringing on Horan, left wing Alyssa Thompson and right back Emily Fox. The pressure continued, but the U.S. remained unable to unlock the Iceland defense. There were two more subs in the 56th minute, as Williams and Sears joined the fray. Sears, the 23-year-old Racing Louisville forward, became the fourth player to make her USWNT debut this week and the seventh to earn her first cap under Hayes.
Horan forced a diving save from Rúnarsdóttir on a swerving, 63rd-minute free kick. That was the first shot of the half by either team. Shortly thereafter, Hayes inserted the USA’s leading scorer this year, Sophia Smith. All six American subs were on the field, and they would soon combine to produce the equalizer, and then the win.
Horan found Smith in the 72nd minute with a long pass out of the back and the ball then fell to Thompson, who was streaking down the left flank. She dribbled into the penalty area and then returned it to Smith, whose first touch sent the ball right to Sears. The debutant adroitly knocked it down to Williams, who turned at the six-yard line and smashed her shot home. It was Williams’ third goal this year for the USWNT.
Having finally broken through, the Americans smelled blood. Less than four minutes elapsed before Horan put the USA ahead from close range with her 36th career goal and fifth of 2024. Swanson hit a perfect free kick from the right channel that dropped behind the Iceland defense. Williams met the ball at the left post and sent it across the face of goal and Horan was there for the tap in.
For symmetry and celebration’s sake, Sears ensured it would be an evening to remember with a beauty of a debut goal three minutes into stoppage time. Smith collected a rebound and saw her shot blocked but the ball bounced right to Sears, who guided a perfect, first-time effort across the face of goal and inside the left post. Sears is the 23rd player to score in her first USWNT game and just the fourth — and first since Christen Press in 2013 — to notch both a goal and an assist.
The USA’s dominance late made the difference. Following Horan’s free kick in the 63rd, which was the initial shot of the half, the Americans took 11 more through the next 27 minutes-plus and finished with a 17-4 advantage on the night. The USA is now 16W-1L-3D in 2024 and 15W-0L-2D all-time against Iceland.
Next Game
The October international window will conclude Oct. 30 with a friendly presented by Jim Beam against 33rd-ranked Argentina at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Ky. (7 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, Universo, Max and Peacock).
