HOUSTON —The United States women's national team is off to a strong start. In its first match of 2025, the Americans opened the SheBelieves Cup with a 2-0 win over Colombia thanks to quality goals from Catarina Macario and Ally Sentnor. Japan beat Australia 4-0 in the first match earlier Thursday evening. With no major tournament until the 2027 World Cup, USWNT coach Emma Hayes has made it clear that at least the first half of this year will be focused on experimenting with new and young talent and broadening the player pool. She explained earlier this week that there's always risk involved when developing players and that "it won't look polished in its entirety." While the squad Hayes rolled out, including the substitutions made, was by no means a finished product, the group appeared strong, confident, technical and showed promise. Tara McKeown made her senior team debut as a starting center back alongside Emily Sonnett, who was honored for reaching her 100th cap before the game. Gisele Thompson and Michelle Cooper also earned their respective first caps, while Sentnor and 17-year-old Lily Yohannes made their first starts. Expect to see more rotation throughout this tournament, especially given that these players are all in different parts of their training. While European-based players are mid-season, American-based players have not played a game for a while, given the NWSL season does not begin until next month.
Takeaways from the Match
Play of the game: This banger of a goal from Sentnor. In the 60th minute, the young forward found a gap in the middle of the field and then fired off a shot from outside the box that Colombian goalkeeper Katherine Tapia had no chance of saving. It was her first-ever USWNT goal in her first-ever USWNT start in just her third appearance for the senior team.
Turning point: In the 34th minute, Yohannes collected the ball near midfield and found Yazmeen Ryan from deep. Ryan took a touch just inside the right corner of the 18-yard box, then slotted a quality cross to Macario, who was making a run near-post and one-touched the ball into the back of the net to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead.
Key stat: Sentnor scored her first but definitely not last goal for the U.S. on Thursday night.
What's Next for the USWNT?
The SheBelieves Cup is always a quick turnaround, given the teams play three matches in seven days. The USWNT will travel to Glendale, Ariz. to face Australia on Feb. 23 and then go to San Diego to play Japan on Feb. 26. The winner of this tournament will be determined by total points (three for a win, one for a tie) with the first tiebreaker being overall goal difference, followed by most goals scored, then head-to-head. The USWNT has won seven total SheBelieves Cup titles, including the last five in a row.
