U.S. women beat Netherlands 2-0 in World Cup rematch
BREDA, Netherlands — Rose Lavelle scored against the Netherlands again, Kristie Mewis scored in her first appearance for the United States in six years and the U.S. women won a rematch of last year’s World Cup final by the same score, 2-0, on Friday.
The older sister of starter Sam Mewis came in as a second-half substitute and scored in the 70th minute. It was Kristie Mewis’ second goal for the team, after her first on June 15, 2013. The 2,722 days between her goals was the longest stretch in team history.
“I just had to just rewatch it, actually, because I think I blacked out on what actually happened,” said Kristie Mewis, who plays for the National Women’s Soccer League’s Houston Dash and last played for the U.S. on March 14, 2014.
The U.S. hadn’t played in 261 days, when on March 11 it completed a 3-0 mark in the group stage of the SheBelieves Cup, before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the event.
The top-ranked Americans have won all nine matches they’ve played this year. They’re 11-0-0 under coach Vlatko Andonovski, who took over after Jill Ellis stepped down last year and is preparing the team for next summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
“A lot of things changed in 2020. But one thing that didn’t change and one thing that will never change with this team is the heart and the mind,” Andonovski said. “And I was so proud of these players, the way they stepped up and handled the game, considering that some of them didn’t have a chance to train properly before this camp.”
Lavelle — who also scored when the U.S. beat the Netherlands in Lyon, France, last year for the team’s second straight World Cup title — got the U.S. on the board Friday. Stanford alum Christen Press found Lavelle streaking down the right wing in the 41st minute. Lavelle evaded a Dutch defender to the inside with a...