After suffering a surprising 3–0 loss to Sweden in their Olympic opener, the U.S. women’s soccer team bounced back with a 6–1 victory over New Zealand on Saturday.
The loss to Sweden marked U.S.’s first loss in two years, and snapped a team record 44 game winning streak. Saturday’s performance marked a return to form.
Rose Lovelle scored the first goal of the day for Team USA, which also marked her first goal in Olympic competition. The second came on a header goal, courtesy of a header assist.
A thing of beauty, those @LindseyHoran headers 👌
🎥 @NBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/pV4c70aXoB
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 24, 2021
The Swedes put three in the net in the second half, but two were in their own. The Americans tallied two more themselves thanks to two longtime team members, Alex Morgan and Christen Press, the fifth and ninth leading goal-scorers in team history.
Winning elevated Team USA to second place in Group G, behind only Sweden. Their next match is against Australia — which sits in third place — on Tuesday at four in the morning, Eastern time. They will need to come away from that with at least a tie to advance.