Make no mistake about it: the United States women’s national team was without a doubt the better team in its 2015 Algarve Cup opener against Norway.
The score line, however, disagreed for a while.
The USWNT went down 1-0 before Carli Lloyd scored a pair of second-half to lead the Yanks to a 2-1 win on Wednesday.
Hope Solo was between the sticks for the States, and probably should’ve done better on Ada Hegerberg’s 43rd minute goal. Solo was slow to get out of her crouch and only got a piece of the header.
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The States responded well, first with a knuckling rip for Lloyd in the 55th minute, assisted by Press, and then converting a penalty in the 62nd when Norway’s Trin Ronning blocked Press’ long shot with her extended arm.
The USWNT is looking to rebound from the 2014 Algarve Cup, where it finished in 7th after drawing Japan and losing to Sweden and Denmark.
Noon ET on Friday brings the next match of group play, with the States facing Switzerland. The Swiss beat Iceland 2-0 on a pair of Lara Dickenmann goals.