January 21, (THEWILL) –Â The United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) defeated New Zealand 5-0 in an exhibition match on Saturday, at Auckland’s Eden Park stadium.
Rose Lavelle scored a brace for the USWNT, while Ashley Hatch, Mallory Swanson, and Taylor Kornieck, also found the back of the net. The match was the second of two between the teams as they prepare for the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this summer.
The USWNT will play all of their World Cup group stage matches in New Zealand. The match was also notable for being the biggest crowd ever for a New Zealand women’s match, with 12,721 in attendance.
The Americans had a rough finish to the year 2022, losing in three out of four games. They will be competing in the SheBelieves Cup next month on home soil, alongside teams from Canada, Brazil and Japan.
The World Cup tournament will begin on July 20th, with the final match taking place on August 20th in Sydney. The US team has previously won the World Cup twice in a row and will be looking to make it a record three consecutive wins.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
