CARSON, Calif (Feb. 23, 2024) – The U.S. Women’s National Team continued its fine form at the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup with a 4-0 win against Argentina. Forward Jaedyn Shaw stole the show with two goals in the opening 17 minutes before forward Alex Morgan scored her second goal in as many games as the USA recorded an important win to take control of Group A and secure its spot in the knockout stages of the inaugural edition of this tournament.
The USA will finish group play against Mexico at Dignity Health Sports Park on Monday, Feb. 26 (10:15 p.m. ET / 7:15 p.m. PT) in a battle for the top spot in the group and a favorable matchup in the quarterfinals just up the road at BMO Stadium.
U.S. interim head coach Twila Kilgore made 10 changes to the starting lineup that opened the tournament against the Dominican Republic with midfielder Korbin Albert – who played a fantastic first 45 minutes -- the only player to retain her place in the starting XI.
The USA once again possessed the ball extremely well, moving a bunkered down Argentina defense around with quick passing and piled up a 20-3 short margin. The USA probably left some goals on the table, but was never really troubled by the Argentina attack over the 90 minutes.
In its first match against Argentina in official competition – the countries having met four previous times with the USA winning the quartet of contests in friendly matches – the USWNT picked up right where it left off against the Dominican Republic, creating dangerous chances in the box while Morgan nearly drew a penalty in the fifth minute.
The relentless USA attack broke through in the 10th minute when midfielder Lindsey Horan, captaining the team for the 19th time, won a free kick on the left wing and then quickly played Shaw in on goal, catching the Argentina defense unaware. The 19-year-old attacker raced toward the net and neatly tucked her shot beneath Argentina goalkeeper Laurina Oliveros and inside the near post for the 1-0 advantage.
Seven minutes later, Shaw notched her second, putting the exclamation point on a flowing team move crafted by the vision and passing of Horan and midfielder Rose Lavelle, smashing a full volley into the net for a spectacular goal. Morgan joined the party 81 seconds after that, directing a looping header from a Casey Krueger cross over Oliveros to put the USA up 3-0.
The USWNT took that lead through the halftime break and deep into the second half before Horan capped the night with a penalty kick goal in the 77th minute after Argentina’s Miriam Mayorga was whistled for a handball in the box – her second caution of the match, which left the South Americans with only 10 players for the final minutes of the match. The USA were unfortunate not to earn at least three more penalty kicks in the match with Argentinean defenders hauling down U.S. players on several free kicks, while Horan got chopped down on the turn inside the penalty area in the second half.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:
USA – Jaedyn Shaw (Lindsey Horan), 10th minute: Horan drew a foul out on the left wing and craftily played the ball to Shaw while the Argentina players remonstrated with the referee. In alone on goal after the quickly taken free kick, Shaw deftly drew the goalkeeper out before slipping her shot inside the left post. USA 1, ARG 0
USA – Jaedyn Shaw (Rose Lavelle), 17th minute: Once again attacking down the left side, the USA was able to play out of a tight space with Crystal Dunn picking out Horan with a lifted pass. Horan one-timed a through-ball to Lavelle on the overlap and the Cincinnati native curled a peach of a cross into the heart of Argentina’s box. Shaw met the ball in stride to power home an unstoppable volley into the right side of the goal. USA 2, ARG 0
USA – Alex Morgan (Casey Krueger), 19th minute: After an initial attack was thwarted, Krueger collected the loose ball, beat a defender and lifted a cross into the penalty area. Morgan read the ball perfectly and jumped to send the ball looping over the goalkeeper and into the right side of the net. USA 3, ARG 0
USA – Lindsey Horan (Penalty Kick), 77th minute: A promising USA attack carved out a shot from near the top of the box for Jenna Nighswonger but it was blocked by the arm of Argentina’s Miriam Mayorga – her second yellow card offense of the match after an earlier tackle on Horan. As fate would have it, it was Horan who stepped to the spot for the subsequent penalty kick, and the U.S. captain cooly converted her shot to end the scoring. USA 4, ARG 0 FINAL
Additional Notes:
- The USWNT is now 5W-0D-0L against Argentina and 1W-0D-0L in official competition.
- Jaedyn Shaw scored her second and third career goals to record her first multi-goal game. She becomes the 15th player in USWNT history to score three or more goals in their first six international appearances and the youngest to ever do so at 19 years and 95 days of age.
- Through her two goals in the first half, Shaw now has four goals in her first six caps, tied for the third-most by any player in USWNT history through their first six games. Only Brandi Chastain (7) and Sydney Leroux (6) scored more in their first six appearances for the USWNT.
- Shaw is the seventh teenager in USWNT history to score multiple goals in a game. Cindy Parlow Cone had the most multi-goal games as a teenager with four, followed by Mia Hamm and Christie Welsh with three each and one apiece from Danielle Fotopoulos, Mallory Swanson, Olivia Moultrie and now Shaw.
- Shaw is also the fifth-youngest player to score for the USWNT in a “competitive match” after Tiffany Robert, Mallory Swanson, Olivia Moultrie and Mia Hamm.
- This is just the second time in USWNT history and first time since 1991 that teenagers have scored in three consecutive games. Shaw scored in the Dec. 5 win vs China PR, 18-year-old Olivia Moultrie scored twice against the Dominican Republic and now Shaw scored tonight against Argentina.
- It is the first time in USWNT history that two different teenagers have had multiple goals in back-to-back games after Olivia Moultrie scored twice on Feb. 20 vs. the Dominican Republic.
- Heading into the tournament, Morgan had scored twice in her last 18 appearances for the USWNT. She's scored two goals in less than 72 hours to open the tournament.
- It was the 123rd career goal for Morgan who has scored in back-to-back games for the first time since the summer of 2022 when she scored the game-winning goal against Canada in the championship game of the Concacaf W Championship on July 18 and then scored again in the USA's next match against Nigeria on September 3.
- It was the 32nd career goal for Horan. She now has three goals in her last four appearances.
- Horan has scored at least one goal in each of the last 10 calendar years dating back to 2015, the longest active streak of any current USWNT player.
- Horan also notched her 35th career assist (on Shaw's first goal), which moved her into a tie with Cindy Parlow Cone for 17th in USWNT history. This also marked her sixth career game tallying both a goal and an assist.
- Casey Krueger's assist on Morgan's goal was the fifth of her career and her first since Sept. 2021 vs. Paraguay and first since giving birth to her son in July of 2022. Krueger also had an assist in the USA's most recent meeting against Argentina in 2021.
- Lavelle's assist was the 22nd of her career and first since setting up Horan's goal against the Netherlands during the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
- Casey Murphy earned the clean sheet in her 18th international appearance and is coming off a 2023 campaign in which she recorded a shutout in all six of her starts. Murphy’s now seven-game shutout streak is tied for the longest of her career and her 13 total shutouts put her in sole possession of sixth all-time in USWNT history ahead of World Cup veterans Mary Harvey and Saskia Webber.
- With three goals in the first 30 minutes tonight and two goals in the first 30 minutes against Dominican Republic, the USWNT has now scored as many goals in the first half-hour of play (5) as it did all of 2023.
- Three of the USA's goals in 2024 have come from the penalty spot compared to just one goal via penalty kick in 2023.
-U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT-
Match: U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Argentina
Date: February 23, 2024
Competition: Concacaf W Gold Cup – Group A
Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park; Carson, Calif.
Attendance: 8,315
Kickoff: 7:15 p.m. PT (10:15 p.m. ET)
Weather: 62 degrees, cloudy
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 3 1 4
ARG 0 0 0
USA – Jaedyn Shaw (Lindsey Horan) 10th minute
USA – Jaedyn Shaw (Rose Lavelle) 17
USA – Alex Morgan (Casey Krueger) 19
USA – Lindsey Horan (Penalty Kick) 77
Lineups:
USA: 18-Casey Murphy; 20-Casey Krueger (23-Emily Fox, 61), 12-Tierna Davidson, 4-Naomi Girma, 19-Crystal Dunn (3-Jenna Nighswonger, 61); 15-Korbin Albert (14-Emily Sonnett, 46), 10-Lindsey Horan (Capt.),16-Rose Lavelle; 8-Jaedyn Shaw (17-Sam Coffey, 78), 7-Alex Morgan (11-Sophia Smith, 46), 22-Trinity Rodman
Substitutes not used: 1-Alyssa Naeher, 21-Jane Campbell, 2-Abby Dahlkemper, 5-Becky Sauerbrunn, 6-Lynn Williams, 9-Midge Purce, 13-Olivia Moultrie
Head Coach: Twila Kilgore
ARG: 12-Laurina Oliveros; 4-Julieta Cruz (18-Celeste Dos Santos, 84), 13-Sophia Braun, 14-Miriam Mayorga (Capt.) (Ejected, 75), 3-Eliana Stabile; 6-Aldana Cometti, 5-Vanina Preininger, 17-Camila Gomez Ares (8-Daiana Falfan, 84), 7-Romina Nuñez; 19-Mariana Larroquette (15-Maricel Pereyra, 84), 11-Yamila Rodriguez (9-Estefania Palomar, 37) (2-Adriana Sachs, 84)
Substitutes not used: 1-Vanina Correa, 10-Dalila Ippolito, 16-Marianela Szymanowski, 20-Chiara Singarella, 21-Catalina Roggerone, 22-Nina Nicosia
Head Coach: Germán Portanova
Stats Summary: USA / ARG
Shots: 20 / 3
Shots on Goal: 9 / 1
Saves: 1 / 5
Corner Kicks: 8 / 1
Fouls: 13 / 12
Offside: 4 / 1
Misconduct Summary:
ARG – Miriam Mayorga (Caution) 45 + 5
USA – Jaedyn Shaw (Caution) 58
ARG – Aldana Cometti (Caution) 65
ARG – Miriam Mayorga (Caution) 75
ARG – Miriam Mayorga (Ejection) 75
Officials:
Referee: Marie-Soleil Beaudoin (CAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Chantal Boudreau (CAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabrielle Lemieux (CAN)
4th Official: Carly Shaw-Maclaren (CAN)
VAR: Drew Fischer (CAN)
AVAR 1: Benjamin Pineda (CRC)
U.S. Soccer Insiders’ Woman of the Match: Jaedyn Shaw
