ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — cat macario The United States scored two goals to defeat Italy 3-0 in a friendly at Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday night.
This is the first of two friendlies between both teams, with the second scheduled for December 1st in Fort Lauderdale.
Olivia Moultrie also scored between the goalies Claudia Dickey earned a shutout victory. It was only his fifth appearance at senior level.
“Obviously, I think we wanted to continue to build on our performance from last camp, and we focused on getting stronger and sticking to our principles, and I think that’s what we did,” said US veteran Rose Lovell, who won her 116th cap. “Overall, I think the team performed really well.”
The Americans wasted no time attacking Italian goalkeeper Laura Giuliani and scoring within the first two minutes.
Lilly Real, who had just won the NWSL title with Gotham, found her teammate LaBelle to begin the sequence. LaBelle then flew wide and Alyssa Thompson quickly returned the ball. Lovell found Moultriescoring his second goal in as many appearances for the team at the far post.
“We talked about starting fast and starting strong, and I think that momentum executed,” Moultrie said. “I had a really good week of training, and I feel like that flowed into the first few minutes of the game.”
Lavelle was ruled offside in the 48th minute, and Moultrie’s second goal was disallowed.
In the 64th minute, Sam Coffey dribbled through the middle and Macario broke through the left side. Macario caught the pass. He then fired a shot to the far side, giving the U.S. a two-goal lead.
Macario added her Number 2 In the 76th minute, she received a pass from 18-year-old Lily Johannes, the youngest player on the team, and fired a shot from the top right side of the box into the far side of the goal.
This was Macario’s 15th goal in 28 international games. Macario has now contributed 18 goals in his past 14 appearances for the United States.
“It was a great win. It’s always fun to be on this team,” said Macario, who has 12 goals and six assists since February 2022. “I feel very happy to be in this environment and I feel like it really helps me become the best version of myself,” he said.
“Fortunately, (U.S. coach) Emma (Hayes) knows me well and knows what I can bring to the team. It’s been a good year…I’ve been just trying to find consistency…just trying to find my rhythm.”
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