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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, May 25, 2009

Soccer: US women rout Canada 4-0


Associated Press

TORONTO — Shannon Boxx, Megan Rapinoe, Lindsay Tarpley, and Lauren Cheney scored to lead the United States to a 4-0 victory over Canada in a friendly Monday night.

The top-ranked Americans spoiled the home debut of Canada coach Carolina Morace.
The defending Olympic gold medalists signed on to play the game earlier this month after Japan pulled out; the Americans were making their first trip north of the border in eight years. They caught the 11th-ranked Canadians for an early goal and it was almost all United States from that point on.
Boxx scored in the second minute, running onto a pass, taking two steps and firing a shot from just outside the penalty area past goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc and into the left corner of the net.
Rapinoe gave the Americans a two-goal lead in injury time before the break, hitting a shot from just inside the box that tucked into the lower right corner of the net.
Tarpley’s goal came in the 77th minute from a scramble in front of the net off a corner kick, and the Americans would score again in the 80th, with Cheney connecting on a cross from Heather O’Reilly and heading it backward into the net
“The Canadians are always a challenge for us because they’re a tough strong team, but now you can see they’re working the ball, they’re possessing,” Boxx said. “She wants them to play, not just hit that long ball and hit those tough balls in the air, she wants them to play on the ground.”
Neither Canadian star Christine Sinclair nor American striker Abby Wambach was able to connect for her 100th career goal.
The United States is 38-3-4 all-time against Canada, and outshot the host team 18-7.
The Americans controlled play for much of the night with their speed and crisp passes, and neither U.S. goalkeeper, Hope Solo and Nicole Barnhart, had to make a difficult save. Canada’s shots either sailed wide or over the net, and the only one on net, by Sinclair in the first half, went straight to Solo’s hands, eliciting a groan from the crowd of 10,255.
“Obviously we didn’t come out to lose 4-0, but I think we did a lot of good things as a team,” said midfielder Kara Lang. “We’re all getting used to it, it’s a lot of changes but a lot of very, very positive changes, and we’re very excited for what’s to come.”