Alyssa Naeher, Sophia Smith get redemption in penalty shootout with Canada

Well, that was insanity.

Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher saved three penalty kicks and converted one as the United States women’s national team defeated rival Canada in a shootout in the Concacaf Gold Cup semifinal on Wednesday. The U.S. will advance to Sunday’s final where it will face Brazil.

The match truly had everything: waterlogged field conditions, the U.S. throwing away two leads — once in regulation, the other in extra time — a penalty shootout and more.

Jaedyn Shaw and Sophia Smith scored critical goals for the U.S., but perhaps nothing was more impressive than Naeher’s late mistake turned heroics. With the USWNT leading 2-1 in the waning moments of extra time, Naeher and Canadian defender Vanessa Gilles collided in the box. VAR ruled that Naeher would be given a yellow card and Canada would get the PK. After what happened in the World Cup, the last thing the U.S. and Naeher wanted to deal with on an already challenging night were penalties.

Canada forward Adriana Leon buried it, but Naeher would get her back moments later, saving the next PK she took.

“At the end of the day, she’ll just be like, ‘This is my job and that’s what I needed to do for the team,'” U.S. captain Lindsey Horan said of Naeher on the broadcast after the match. “And she’s gonna hate herself for like, not saving one of them, I don’t know. But she always comes up big for us. That’s Alyssa Naeher for you. So, so proud of her, but, nothing new.”

Before that frantic ending, the story of the match was more about battling through the slog than anything else. The pitch at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego turned into a Slip ‘N Slide as the rain came down throughout the evening. Anytime a player fell, splashing onto the turf, they had to ring their soaking wet jersey out like a towel. Neither team could move the ball well or connect passes — though they tried.

Early on it was clear this wouldn’t be pretty. In the 11th minute, Trinity Rodman had a breakaway, but a puddle stopped the ball in its tracks and Rodman kept on running at full speed past it. A few minutes later, the same thing happened to Alex Morgan. 

The game mostly went on like that.

“That’s back to that U.S. mentality that we’ve been talking about that we needed,” Horan said. “It’s not a game that you’re gonna play football. I don’t think there were more than a few completed passes on the ground, but getting a goal, the tie, getting another goal and then the PKs and Alyssa coming up massive. 

“And I have to shout Soph Smith too because she needed that goal and to get that first PK, I was so, so proud of her.”

The USWNT will take the W, but the reaction on social media was utter disgust that the game was played at all. Everyone from San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney to former players Julie Foudy, Lauren Holiday and Sam Mewis were calling for the match to be postponed. Given there was no lighting in the area, the game went on.

And with that, here are some takeaways from a crazy and soggy match:

Play of the game

In the 20th minute, Horan sent a ball from midfield toward goal, hoping Shaw might be able to run onto it. Gilles, who beat Shaw to the ball, attempted to pass it back to goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan given that’s the right instinct in normal conditions. 

But due to the fact that this game was essentially played underwater, the ball got stuck, Shaw took advantage, and nailed it past Sheridan into the back of the net.

While Gilles made a mistake, credit Shaw for seeing what was happening and using the elements to her advantage. After that, no defender from either side made another backwards pass.

Turning point

The U.S. led two times and almost closed things out with a 2-1 victory, thanks to this goal from Smith.

Then in the 123rd minute, Gilles and Naeher crashed into eachother in the box. After a VAR review, the referee handed Naeher a yellow card and awarded Canada a penalty kick that Leon converted, forcing the game into PKs.

The last time the USWNT went into a shootout, things didn’t work out so well, losing to Sweden in the round of 16 of the World Cup. The Gold Cup is not the World Cup, but this was a chance to avenge that nightmare of a moment at another major tournament.

And this time, things went much smoother. Smith smashed the first PK past Sheridan, which immediately de-stressed the U.S. Then Naeher came up huge, saving three penalties and making one of her own. The U.S. goalkeeper, who earned her 100th cap last match, went third and placed her shot into the bottom right corner like it was no big deal. 

Smith, who scored her first goal of the Gold Cup in the 99th minute, was emotional after the match. She was still reeling from missing a PK in the World Cup and had fallen out of the lineup the past few games. So scoring in this match was important for the young forward.

“We put in a gritty team performance,” Smith said. “It’s been an emotional ride for me personally since the World Cup, so this is just a big relief and I couldn’t be more proud of our team.”

“I mean, to miss a PK in the World Cup takes a toll on you mentally,” she continued, “and then I feel like since then, I’ve just been trying to work my way back. I obviously hadn’t had a goal this tournament and as a forward, it’s hard to not get that and help the team in that way. So I think that goal was just a relief of a lot of emotions.”

Key stat

If it feels like every story during this Gold Cup has in some way been centered around Shaw, that’s because it has. The 19-year-old has now scored in all four games she’s started for the USWNT.

As coaches Twila Kilgore and Emma Hayes try their best to evaluate and narrow down the USWNT player pool ahead of the Paris Olympics this summer — rosters are limited to 18 players — Shaw should be a no-brainer. In a short period of time, she’s proven to be an unstoppable playmaker who can score goals even in the worst conditions.

What’s next for the USWNT?

With this win, the USWNT will play Brazil in the Gold Cup final on Sunday. 

Brazil beat Mexico in the first semifinal match, 3-0.

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.

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