Tokyo Games: U.S. women’s soccer regroups with 6-1 thrashing of New Zealand

U.S. midfielder Lindsey Horan could not wait to face New Zealand on Saturday in the second game of the Summer Olympics women’s soccer tournament in Saitama, Japan.

No surprise after the vaunted Americans had been trampled by No. 5 Sweden to start the Tokyo Games in stunning fashion.

“We hated every single bit about the last game,” Horan said after making her 100th appearance on the national team. “The coolest thing about this team is we sat down and we’re like the mentality was crap, and that can’t ever happen again.”

It didn’t occur against New Zealand as the top-ranked women got the victory they needed with a convincing 6-1 triumph to remain very much alive in the Tokyo Games soccer tournament.

The Americans (1-1-0, 3 points) rebounded nicely behind four goals and two own goals by New Zealand’s beleaguered defense. The victory came two days after a stunning 3-0 defeat to Sweden — one of the United States’ worst defeats in history.

As expected, the Americans came roaring back against New Zealand, considered the weakest team in the Group G pairing, with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden in attendance in an empty 66,000-seat stadium.

“We came out wanting to score goals and make a statement and obviously we weren’t satisfied last game, so we had to have a fresh start and we were able to do that,” said midfielder Julie Ertz, a Santa Clara University graduate.

U.S. coach Vlako Andononvski made five changes to the starting lineup to keep fresh legs on the field with the group games coming every two days.

“In this game, it was coming out and changing absolutely everything,” Horan said. “Changing our approach, our mentality, doing everything we possibly could to not have that same feeling at the start.

“We needed to come out and show that we want this and that we’re not going to stop and not one game is going to let us stop.”

The United States got contributions across the field, starting with Stanford graduate Christen Press, a second-half substitute, Press scored a devastating goal in the 80th minute and then found former Cal star Alex Morgan seven minutes later to assist on another score.

Press also caused an own goal by CJ Bott in stoppage time. The result gave the Americans a +2 goal differential in case tiebreaker rules come into play. That means the United States would need just a tie Tuesday against Australia (-1) to advance to the quarterfinals.

It would take a miracle victory over the Swedes by New Zealand for the Americans to win their group.

For now, the United States needs to keep building momentum as it tries to win its fifth Olympic gold medal.

Press scored in the 80th minute off a big serve from Julie Ertz on the right flank. Press settled the ball on her knee and put it away between two defenders. It was Ertz’s second assist as her midfield presence made a difference for the United States.

Press’ score changed the tenor of the game after Cal’s Besty Hassett had scored in the 72nd minute to make it 3-1. Hannah Wilkinson broke down the U.S. defense and found Hassett alone in the area to stun the Americans.

After conceding four goals in 23 games under Andonovski, the United States gave up its fourth goal in two Olympics games.

The Americans led 2-0 at halftime on an early goal by Rose Levelle and a late score by Horan. In between, the United States had four goals nullified by offside calls.

“I’m not proud of myself for being offsides that many times,” veteran star Carli Lloyd told reporters. “They were pretty decent goals, unfortunately. We gotta do better.”

Lavelle had given the Americans the start they needed in the ninth minute with a timely run into the penalty area where Tobin Heath found her unmarked. New Zealand goalkeeper Anna Leat had no chance as Lavelle’s shot rolled just inside the near post.

The United States’ third goal came in the 63rd minute when Lloyd headed a service into the six-yard box. The dangerous ball put New Zealand’s defense under pressure as Abby Erceg headed the ball into her own net while trying to mark Heath.

The Ferns started three women with Bay Area connections: captain Ali Riley (Stanford), Daisy Cleverley (Cal) and Hassett.

Sweden reached the quarterfinals with a 4-2 victory over Australia on Saturday. The United States ends Group G play against the Aussies (1-1-0) in Kashima.