Catarina Macario recorded a brace and Olivia Moultrie scored in the second minute as the United States women’s national team cruised to a 3-0 victory over Italy in an international friendly on Friday night at Orlando.
Rose Lavelle, Sam Coffey and Lily Yohannes had assists as the USWNT controlled play in the first of two meetings with the Italians. The squads play again on Monday at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Claudia Dickey made two saves while registering the shutout.
Laura Giuliani made eight saves for Italy. The USWNT outshot Italy 18-7 and had an 11-2 edge in shots on target.
The match was the USWNT’s first against Italy since 2010.
Moultrie put the United States on the board just 68 seconds into the match.
Lavelle had the ball on the left and sent it toward Moultrie in the middle, and Moultrie immediately fired a left-footed shot into the net. The goal was Moultrie’s fifth in 11 national team appearances.
Stalwart defender Naomi Girma was playing in her first USWNT match in 149 days, and she provided some stellar play to keep the game tied.
Italy’s Chiara Becarri received a pass around midfield and Girma was slightly behind her. The two were later in the box and Becarri was trying to get into position to shoot when Girma got her foot in the way and knocked the ball aside.
Moultrie appeared to have recorded a brace when she received a pass from Lavelle and tapped a right-footed roller into the net in the 49th minute. However, Lavelle was ruled to be offside when she got the ball, nullifying the goal.
Macario put the game away with two goals 12 minutes apart for her fifth brace with the national team. She has 15 goals in 28 USWNT appearances.
In the 64th minute, Coffey fed Macario, who sent a left-footer into the net to make it 2-0.
Yohannes set up Macario in the 76th minute, and this time Macario ripped a right-footed shot into the left corner of the net.
–Field Level Media
