• USA beat Japan 3-0 in Nashville to clinch the three-match friendly series 2-1.
• Naomi Girma, Rose Lavelle and Kennedy Wesley all scored within 17 minutes of the restart.
• The hosts kept 65 % of the ball and limited Japan to only three shots on target.

The United States women ended their three-game friendly set against Japan on a high note, smashing three quick goals after the break to win 3-0 in Nashville.

Defender Naomi Girma opened the scoring two minutes into the second half. She met a looping Rose Lavelle corner with a firm header that flew past the keeper. Lavelle then turned scorer in the 56th minute, racing on to Trinity Rodman’s slide-rule pass and slipping the finish under the on-rushing goalkeeper. The flurry continued when Kennedy Wesley nodded in another corner, this time delivered by substitute Jaedyn Shaw, to make it 3-0 after 64 minutes.

The Americans controlled the ball for nearly two-thirds of the contest and created 15 attempts, seven of which forced saves. Japan, by contrast, managed only five shots in total.

The victory gives the USWNT the series 2-1. They had started with a 2-1 success in San Jose, where Lavelle scored early and set up Lindsey Heaps, before falling 1-0 in Seattle mid-week to a Maika Hamano strike that ended a 42-match scoring streak.