International Friendly: USA vs. Uzbekistan

USWNT vs. Uzbekistan – International Friendly
Date: April 12, 2022
Venue: Lower.com Field; Columbus, Ohio
Broadcast: ESPN2, ViX
Broadcast Time: 7 p.m. ET
Official Kickoff Time: 7:08 p.m. ET

Starting XI vs. Uzbekistan: 21-Aubrey Kingsbury; 8-Sofia Huerta, 9-Mallory Pugh, 11-Sophia Smith, 12-Naomi Girma, 13-Ashley Sanchez, 15-Alana Cook, 16-Rose Lavelle (Capt.), 17-Andi Sullivan, 19-Emily Fox, 20-Catarina Macario

Available Subs: 1-Alyssa Naeher, 2-Abby Dahlkemper, 5-Kelley O’Hara, 7-Ashley Hatch, 14-Trinity Rodman, 22-Kristie Mewis, 23-Margaret Purce

Not Dressing: Bella Bixby, Imani Dorsey, Lindsey Horan, Jaelin Howell

GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW – UZBEKISTAN

• USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Pugh (72), Lavelle (71), Sullivan (27), Macario (17), Smith (15), Fox (13), Huerta (12), Cook (9), Sanchez (7), Girma (1), Kingsbury (1).

• Tuesday’s lineup in Chester features four changes from Starting XI in Columbus: Kingsbury for Naeher in goal, Huerta and Girma on defense for Dahlkemper and O’Hara and Sanchez in the midfield for Horan.

• With both Kingsbury and Girma starting in their first international caps, this will be the first time two players have started in their first caps in the same game since Nov. 10, 2019, when Alana Cook and Margaret Purce started in their first caps vs. Costa Rica, which was Vlatko Andonovski’s second game ever in charge of the USWNT.

• The starting lineup averages 24.98 years of age, making it the youngest Starting XI for the USWNT since January 30, 2007, when a starting lineup averaging 24.6 years of age took the field against China PR. Sophia Smith, the youngest player in this starting XI, was in 1^st grade in 2007.

• The starting lineup averages 21 caps per player and marks the first time since March of 2013 that a USWNT starting lineup has not included at least one player with 100+ caps.

• Midfielder Rose Lavelle will captain the side for the first time in her USWNT career as she earns her 71^st cap for the USWNT. Lavelle, who on Saturday became the 52^nd USWNT player to reach 70 caps and registered two assists in the first meeting vs. Uzbekistan, will have now appeared in 35 matches under head coach Vlatko Andonovski, the most of any player in his tenure with the USA.

• Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury will make her international debut as she becomes the 26^th goalkeeper all-time to represent the USWNT. At 30-years-old, Kingsbury – the two-time NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year – becomes the oldest goalkeeper to earn a first cap for the USWNT and the third-oldest player overall to earn a first cap for the USWNT. She becomes just the fifth player to debut for the USWNT at age 30 or older and only the second goalkeeper ever to do so.

• Sofia Huerta will make her second start of 2022 and the fifth of her USWNT career as she is slated to make her 12^th international appearance for the USA. Huerta started and played the full 90 minutes in the USA’s 5-0 win over New Zealand at the 2022 SheBelieves Cup, assisting Ashley Hatch’s goal to open the second-half scoring.

• Mallory Pugh, who leads the USA in both goals (4) and assists (4) in 2022, will make her third consecutive start as she earns her 72^nd career cap. Pugh has scored in each of her last three appearances for the USA – the longest scoring streak of her international career – and match her career-high with three assists on Saturday against Uzbekistan. She now has 24 career assists, tied with Shannon Boxx for 20th all-time in USWNT history.

• After scoring her first career hat trick in the 9-1 win over Uzbekistan, Sophia Smith is set to make fifth consecutive start as she earns her 15^th cap overall for the USWNT. Smith tripled her career goals in one game with her hat trick against Uzbekistan on April 9 and at 21 years and 242 days old, became the fifth-youngest player to ever score a hat trick for the USWNT.

• Smith became the 25th player in USWNT history to record a hat trick. Smith’s hat trick is the 63rd all-time in program history and the first since Alex Morgan scored three goals on Sept. 21, 2021, vs. Paraguay in Cincinnati, Ohio.

• Naomi Girma will make her debut for the USWNT, becoming along with Kingsbury the 246^th and 247^th players all-time to represent the USWNT. At 21 years and 302 days of age, Girma becomes the fifth player born after the historic 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup to represent the senior U.S. Women’s National Team, joining Sophia Smith, Jaelin Howell, Catarina Macario and Trinity Rodman.

• Girma, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft, will start in central defense alongside her former Stanford University teammate Alana Cook. They played one season together when Girma was a freshman and Cook was a senior.

• After coming off the bench in Columbus to score her first international goal, Ashley Sanchez will make her third career start as she makes her seventh appearance all-time for the USWNT. Sanchez, who started against New Zealand and Iceland at the SheBelieves Cup, had two assists in the USA’s 5-0 win over Iceland and on April 9 vs. Uzbekistan, became the 112^th player all-time to score for the USWNT with her goal in the 90^th minute.

• Alana Cook will start her seventh consecutive match for the USWNT as she earns her ninth cap overall. Cook leads the USWNT in total minutes played in 2022 with 356 minutes and recorded the first two assists of her international career in the USA’s April 9 win over Uzbekistan. Cook is the first USWNT defender to record multiple assists in a game since Tierna Davidson had two assists vs. Chile in the group stage of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

• One of only five players to start every match for the USA in 2022, Andi Sullivan will make her 27^th international appearance for the USWNT. Sullivan scored the opening goal in the USA’s win over Uzbekistan in Columbus, the third of her international career and also tallied an assist on the day. The other players to start every match this year are Smith, Cook, Macario and Fox.

• Emily Fox will make her eighth consecutive start and earn her 13^th cap overall for the USWNT. Fox will have now appeared in every match the USA has played since the October 2021 FIFA window, the only USWNT player to appear in all nine matches during that span.

• Having scored in back-to-back games for the first time in her USWNT career, Catarina Macario will make her fifth start of the year as she earns her 17^th cap overall for the USWNT. The 22-year-old Macario scored twice and had one assist in the SheBelieves Cup finale vs. Iceland on Feb. 23 and added a goal in the 46^th minute on Saturday against Uzbekistan. Macario now has eight goals in her last seven games combined overall for club and for country.