FRISCO - Just over seven months removed from their 2015 Women’s World Cup championship, the U.S. Women’s National Team played their first competitive match with seven new faces on the roster.
In a 5-0 win over Costa Rica to open up their 2016 Olympic Qualifying campaign, four of those faces made their international competition debuts with the Senior Team – Crystal Dunn, Lindsey Horan, Mallory Pugh and Jaelene Hinkle.
“We saw a little bit of them late in the Victory Tour and I thought tonight – you know this is their first game that actually counts in terms of something’s at stake other than just results,” head coach Jill Ellis said after the match. “Dunn got an assist and a goal, she was good… I think Lindsey did very well in terms of trying to spread the ball around, and then bringing in Hinkle and Pugh [late] was more about getting them experience and settled. I’m pleased all around with how they did.”
Horan, who became the first American female to bypass college and turn pro in 2012, made her long-awaited USWNT competitive debut after missing the World Cup with a knee injury. Her nerves coming into the match were quickly calmed when teammate Alex Morgan needed just 12 seconds to get her side on the board.
“It was crazy, off of the first play of the game we got a goal. I think usually after the ball gets moving I settle into my game, but right after that we got a goal it was just so much excitement and when we got the ball moving again I was settled in and more comfortable,” she said. “It’s really cool for me to come into a new scenario and not just be with the U-20s anymore and to be with the full team and be in this environment, it’s awesome for me and I was so happy.”
Late in the match with the U.S. leading comfortable, 4-0, Ellis brought on the 17-year-old Pugh - the youngest player to be named to a USWNT Olympic Qualifying roster. In just her second CAP, the recent UCLA commit was still in awe.
“I think it was just really cool and a great opportunity to play with some players that I’ve always looked up to,” she said. “It was something I’ve never experienced before, and the fact that there is so much pressure on the line, it makes it that much more fun.”