Key Takeaways
- Kennedy Wesley came off the bench to score her first senior goal and set up another.
- The win gives the United States a 2-1 edge in a rare three-match friendly series.
- Freezing weather and earlier snow could not stop the hosts from outclassing the Asian champions.
COMMERCE CITY, Colorado – A lively second-half show lifted the United States women to a 3-0 victory over Japan on a bitterly cold Friday night.
Defender Kennedy Wesley, introduced after the break, needed 19 minutes to create the opener and 17 more to find the net herself.
Naomi Girma nodded in Wesley’s flick-on from close range in the 47th minute to break the deadlock. Rose Lavelle then raced clear to slip a low shot inside the left post on 56 minutes, before Wesley volleyed home a corner for the third.
Coach Emma Hayes praised the result against “a top nation” and said the scoreline will not be repeated “every time at this level”.
Claudia Dickey, in goal, made three smart stops to preserve the clean sheet, while Japan managed only one attempt before half-time.
The visitors lost defender Hikaru Kitagawa to injury midway through the opening period and rarely threatened after that.
The match ended the teams’ unusual trilogy of friendlies. Japan had levelled the set with a 1-0 mid-week win in Seattle that halted a ten-game American streak, but the hosts rebounded strongly on home soil.
Hayes used the series to test her full squad ahead of looming World Cup qualifiers, changing every starter for the second encounter. She insists hard work, not rotation, will decide future honours.
Despite the Asian Cup holders’ reputation for crisp passing, they had no answer to the States’ pace and power once the snow-dusted pitch began to thaw.