England stuns United States women 1-0 in She Believes Cup soccer tournament on goal with minute to play

While Jill Ellis never wants to see the United States women’s soccer team lose a game, the coach believes good things can come out of a setback, especially in an event without a major prize.

Such was the case Saturday when substitute Ellen White scored on a rebound in close in the 89th minute and England stunned the Americans 1-0 in the second round of the She Believes Cup at Red Bulls Arena before a sellout crowd of 26,500.

“I think sometimes you fail, the lesson hits home harder in terms of you feel the sting of it,” Ellis said after the U.S. lost its second game at home since 2004. “When I see the players, I say this is why we play those teams so we can learn about ourselves, so we can test ourselves.”

It marked the first time that England has beaten the United States since a friendly in 2011, and the first time in the states. It was only England’s fourth win in 14 games (4-9-1) against the U.S.

The only other loss at home was to China in late 2015.

White, who entered in the 76th minute, scored her 20th goal in 60 games with England, just seconds after Lucy Bronze cracked a shot off the crossbar moments following a corner kick. Two U.S. defenders collided trying to clear the ball and White ripped it past goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris.

“It was a fantastic moment for myself to obviously score for England on the home soil of the USA and to get the win,” White said.

“It was an unbelievable feeling. The team put in a fantastic performance. I am proud of every member of the squad. To get a win and three points on the board is an unbelievable feeling.”

The feeling was a lot different than the last game for England. It dropped a 2-1 decision to France on Wednesday on a goal on the final kick of the contest.

England manager Mark Sampson said everyone contributed.

“It’s got to be to win in America,” he said. “There’s not been too many teams to do that. They have a very proud home record, so to come here and win is an important result for us. I’m just really proud of the team on the back of that France defeat.”

Until the goal, it appeared it would be a scoreless draw.

Neither team had a good scoring chance in the second half that was played in temperatures in the 20s with a wind chill that made it feel like 10 degrees.

“It was really cold,” England midfielder Fara Williams said. “It took ages for the players to warm up. Even at the end of the game people were still cold.”

Each team had an outstanding scoring chance in the first half.

Rose Lavelle, making her first start for the United States, was stopped point blank by England goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain in the 16th minute.

Chamberlain said the save was almost self-defense.

“I think I hit it right at the goalie,” Lavelle said. “I wish I could have buried that one.”

Harris used her right arm to stop Nikita Parris in the 6-yard box in the 31st minute.

In the first match of the day, French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi stopped a first-half penalty kick, and France and Germany played to a scoreless draw.

After two rounds, France leads the tournament with four points. The United States and England have three and Germany one.

The round-robin finishes on Tuesday in Washington with the United States facing France and Germany playing England.