COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – In a frigid, snow-dusted friendly match at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Friday night, the U.S. Women’s National Team delivered a dominant second-half performance to secure a resounding 3-0 win over Japan, wrapping up their three-game international series with two victories to Japan’s one.
The game kicked off in nearly freezing temperatures, just hours after overnight snowfall left a white dusting across the Major League Soccer pitch that hosts the Colorado Rapids. Japan faced an early setback when defender Hikaru Kitagawa suffered an injury in the 25th minute and had to stretchered off the pitch, replaced by Miyabi Moriya. For the U.S., starting defender Tierna Davidson took a hard fall in the 30th minute, received on-field medical evaluation, and managed to play through the end of the first half.
Despite the U.S. holding a commanding 9-1 shot advantage in the opening 45 minutes, neither side could find the back of the net, and the two teams went into halftime locked in a 0-0 draw. The game’s momentum shifted dramatically immediately after the break, when substitute Kennedy Wesley – who entered the match to replace the injured Davidson – sparked the U.S. scoring surge. In the 47th minute, Wesley redirected a header off a cross toward the near left post to set up Naomi Girma, who buried a point-blank header to put the U.S. ahead 1-0.
The Americans doubled their lead nine minutes later, in the 56th minute, after winning possession near the midfield. Trinity Rodman played a precise through ball to Rose Lavelle, who outpaced Japan’s backline down the center of the pitch and slotted a clinical shot from the edge of the 18-yard box inside the left post. The goal extended Lavelle’s impressive recent scoring run; the veteran playmaker has now contributed to 10 goals – five scored and five assisted – across her last 10 matches.
Wesley, a young rising prospect, capped off the rout with her first career international goal in the 64th minute. Off a corner kick delivered perfectly by Jaedyn Shaw, Wesley connected on a clean volley to push the U.S. lead to 3-0, a score that would hold through the final whistle. Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey earned a clean sheet for the U.S. with three key saves.
A post-match interview, a clearly elated Wesley spoke about her milestone goal. “I really don’t have any words,” she said. “I mean, it was the perfect ball from Jaedyn and I was just in the right place at the right time. I’m just over the moon.”
U.S. head coach Emma Hayes praised her side’s sharp finishing after the break, noting, “I felt we came out in the second half and there was no coming back, to be honest. I felt tonight we were just clinical in the final third.”
Friday’s match closed out a tightly contested three-game series between two of the world’s top-ranked women’s teams. The U.S. took the first matchup 2-1 last week in San Jose, California, before Japan pulled off a 1-0 upset win in Seattle on Tuesday. That victory snapped the U.S.’s 10-game winning streak, ended a 42-game scoring stretch for the Americans, and marked the U.S.’s first loss since a 2-1 defeat to Portugal last October. Hayes had rotated her entire starting lineup for the second Seattle game as part of her ongoing work to expand the team’s player pool ahead of 2024 World Cup qualifying, marking the fourth time during her tenure she has fielded a completely new starting 11 in consecutive matches.
Japan entered the series riding high after a dominant championship run at the 2025 Women’s Asian Cup, where the side outscored all its opponents 29-1 and beat host Australia 1-0 in the final. The technically skilled Japanese side had also beaten the U.S. at the 2024 SheBelieves Cup, giving them momentum heading into the three-game series. Ahead of Friday’s decider, Hayes acknowledged Japan’s elite standing in international women’s soccer. “They’re a world-class team,” she said. “I think when you win the first one, inevitably, the second one becomes that challenge. They are a top side, so we have to give them a lot of credit. So, game on for the third game.”