USWNT v. Costa Rica

Carli Lloyd and Heather O’Reilly each scored twice and the United States beat Costa Rica 7-2 on Wednesday night in the exhibition game that included an 83-minute weather delay. The lightning came with some heavy rain that made the turf surface a bit of a mess, but after almost 90 minutes the teams returned to the field and continued the match.

The repeat match against Costa Rica Wednesday will be the second match of a 10-game World Cup victory tour for the U.S.

The sellout crowd in Chattanooga probably expected it to rain goals: after all, they were watching the world champions against a team they’d walloped 8-0 on Sunday. This team is resilient.

Team USA added to its lead at the 19:26 mark when Lloyd stepped into a corner from Rapinoe, and about three minutes later, O’Reilly headed in a cross from Wambach. “Right now, especially the first two games, we’re just here to celebrate”. Wambach missed the chance at an easy goal when her header flew wide of the net, so Lloyd decided to just do it herself in the seventh minute of the match, rocketing in a free kick from distance off the crossbar and across the goal line.

World Cup stars Alex Morgan and Sidney Leroux are out with injuries, and goalie Hope Solo appears likely to rest for a second match in favor of backup Ashlyn Harris. Earlier this week, she announced her plans to retire from global soccer, joining Lauren Holiday and Shannon Boxx as World Cup stars that will retire before the team begins Olympic qualification. The July 16 shooting that resulted in the death of five military members was remembered at Wednesday’s game by a moment of silence before the match, black armbands worn by the USA players, and the autographed jerseys they donated to an auction to raise money for the Chattanooga Heroes Fund.

As soon as the match was restarted, the U.S. pounced. “Hopefully, we gave the city of Chattanooga something positive to cheer for”.

“I think we were just hoping these bands of storms we were looking at on our phones would at some point abate”, U.S. coach Jill Ellis said. The crowd is wonderful, even amongst the thunderstorms and the lightning.