New faces emerging as team rebuilds
A year of change and tumult came to a close in a satisfying way for the U.S. women’s national team Sunday night.
And it was also satisfying for the just-shy-of-a-sellout crowd at Avaya Stadium, where the American players were treated, as usual, like rock stars by their squealing fans.
The young players performed, the stars scored and the Americans rebounded from a mediocre performance in Vancouver against Canada on Thursday night to dominate their neighbor three days later, winning 3-1.
“We’ve spent the last nine months looking at players and creating this jelling process as
we go forward,” said coach Jill Ellis who has had 55 players in her pool since the end of the Rio Olympics 15 months ago. “We are looking to the future and how we can get better.”
On the field Sunday night were intriguing new faces, like midfielder Sam Mewis, center back Abby Dahlkemper and, at the end of the game, Stanford senior Andi Sullivan, who was heading to a linguistics class Monday morning. The young players took the field alongside the stalwarts of the team: players like Megan Rapinoe, Kelley O’Hara and Alex Morgan.
One of the new leaders of the team who emerged during the 2015 World Cup and is key to the future is Julie Ertz. Known as Julie Johnston when she played at Santa Clara, Ertz gave her team the lead in the 11th minute, flicking in Rapinoe’s corner kick.
It was Ertz’s sixth goal since July and the 14th of her career: All have come on set pieces. This year, she has moved from center back to defensive midfield as part of Ellis’ reshuffling and tinkering.
“Her will is phenomenal,” Ellis said. “She loves to get forward, loves to get on the end of things. She’s a magnet. I think it’s her sheer will and her bravery.”
For Johnston, it was satisfying to score in a place she calls her second home, in front of family and friends.
“I was really excited to score and to end 2017 on a high note,” Ertz said. “Set pieces are all about the service and we ... have the best servers in the world on our team.”
Her sixth goal drew her equal with her husband, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, who has six touchdowns to lead the Eagles and who stayed back in Philadelphia to get treatment before the Eagles’ game against the Cowboys next Sunday.
“We’re very competitive, too, and he has more season left,” she said.
The team’s second goal was a fitting score during Big Game week. Christen Press (Stanford) crossed to Alex Morgan (Cal), who buried the ball for her seventh goal of the year.
The final U.S. score came from the team’s experienced threat, Carli Lloyd, who entered the game as a sub in the 75th minute. Lloyd, 35, suffered a serious ankle injury last summer, with her club team, the Houston Dash, and has been working her way back.
She is already in peak form in terms of aligning the chip on her shoulder that helps her perform.
“It’s about where I want to be in 2020, which will be the end of my career, no matter what the doubters and the haters say,” Lloyd said. “I have a ways to go and this is just the beginning, so everybody better buckle up.”
Lloyd says she has critics who don’t think she can play in the 2019 World Cup, when she will be 37, or in the 2020 Olympics, at 38.
“There’s loads of doubt, doubt within, everywhere, my age, this and that,” Lloyd said. “Michael Jordan had loads of doubters. Other athletes have doubters. Bring it on. It’s a motivation.”
“It’s been a very long couple of years for me,” said Lloyd, who played with Manchester City in the spring before returning to Houston. “I feel explosive. This is probably the best I’ve felt in my career. It’s all about continuing to break barriers and to keep going.”
This year hasn’t always been pretty to watch. At times, the team has played poorly and seemed disjointed.
But Ellis is building depth and flexibility. She has built a pool of players that should give her team its best shot to repeat as World Cup champion.
“Now we have 18 months to develop a squad of 23,” Ellis said.
The team will take a break and reconvene in January. Qualifying for the 2019 World Cup in France will begin next fall. Everyone knows what the goal is.
“You want to peak at the right moment,” Lloyd said, “and 2019 is that moment.”