U.S. vs. Haiti Women’s Soccer: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Friendly

It’s tough to learn anything from games like these because of the vast talent difference but Carli Lloyd was obviously super as she scored her hat trick.

Over 34,000 people were in attendance, making it the largest crowd to attend a soccer match in the history of Ford Field. The teams will meet again on Sunday in Birmingham, Ala. But in a friendly match Thursday night against Haiti, Carli Lloyd had the same goal output that she did against Japan on the sport’s biggest stage in July. She debuted for the US in January of 2008 and has scored 12 goals over her first 101 games, including famously tallying the fifth goal in the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final. And after Press struggled a bit to find her timing during the World Cup, perhaps having a speedster assist artist like Dunn on the wing will up her scoring pace, too. This is the first time I got to see her play but it seemed like she was able to instinctively put herself in the ideal attacking position as well as cross a ball with the pinpoint accuracy that reminded me of Megan Rapinoe.

“I was pretty excited to get the call that they wanted me in camp and at first I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to join the Victory Tour, ‘ she told Laura Vecsey of Fox Sports”.

Lloyd opened the scoring, heading home a cross from Dunn in the sixth minute. Amongst them are Carli Lloyd, who claimed these women are “priceless role models” who are fighting for an important cause. Lloyd, naturally, took the penalty, and brought US’ advantage to 3-0. Lloyd rose above the pack and sent her header back across the goal, over the Haiti ‘keeper and into the net to complete her hat trick.

United States of America lineup: Solo (Harris 46th); O’Hara (Krieger 46th), Johnston, Sauerbrunn, Klingenberg; Dunn, Brian (Holiday 46th), Heath (Rampone 63rd), Lloyd, Press (O’Reilly 63rd); Morgan (Wambach 63rd).

Haiti came in to play with only about a week or so notice. This marked Lloyd’s 72nd career worldwide goal.

This is @CarliLloyd’s 4th career hat trick.

Without letting the sting of disappointment take away from her impressive game this summer in the NWSL, Dunn was clearly ready for her start.

The Americans breezed to their third consecutive blowout since winning the trophy and extended the program’s unbeaten streak at home to 99 games, dating from 2004. She closed well on a Haitian player and got her first touch by blocking the same player’s hurried clearance. In 20 regular season games with the club, she scored 15 goals and added three assists, earning the league’s Golden Boot award for most goals.

For 300 seconds, she looked like someone who not only might be nervous in her return but was also playing alongside these teammates for the first time in months. Her career high is 15, which she achieved in 2014 and 2012. Australia was supposed to play the USWNT in Detroit and Birmingham, Alabama but the players, both men and women, are on strike in hopes of being better compensated and have better conditions when they play for the Australian National Team.