Emma Sears’ Hat Trick Helps U.S. Ladies’s Staff Beat New Zealand

Emma Sears scored three goals and Catarina Macario added twp as the U.S. women’s national team routed New Zealand 6-0 on Wednesday night.

It was the most goals scored by the United States in a match under coach Emma Hayes. Michelle Cooper had two assists.

Cooper sent Lily Yohannes’ backheel pass over to Sears, who scored her first goal in the eighth minute to give the U.S. the early lead.

Macario, who plays for Chelsea, doubled the lead with her first goal in the 34th minute and Rose Lavelle scored a curling shot into the side netting from distance to make it 3-0 before halftime. It was Lavelle’s 27th career goal.

Sears, who plays for Racing Louisville in the National Women’s Soccer League, scored her second in the 55th, again with an assist from Cooper. Macario added her second in the 66th to make it 5-0. Macario has four two-goal games for the United States.

Sears got her third in the 84th, for the national team’s first hat trick since Sophia Wilson did it against Uzbekistan in 2022.

“Honestly, I want to give a lot of credit to my teammates. I felt like, especially with that first goal, Michelle served it on a platter for me to just tap it in,” Sears said. “And the goals following, I felt like it was good to carry on that momentum throughout the game and ultimately get the win.”

Defender Kennedy Wesley started in her debut, becoming the 25th player to earn her first cap under Hayes. The backline of Wednesday’s starting lineup had just 11 combined appearances for the national team.

It was the team’s third match of the international window. The United States had 113 days off before falling to Portugal 2-1 in the opener last week in Pennsylvania then won 3-1 in the second match in East Hartford, Connecticut, on Sunday. The loss in the first match to Portugal was just the team’s third under Hayes.

“I think it’s exciting to see the future of this team,” Cooper said. “Obviously our first game didn’t go as we wanted to, but to be able to have multiple players change our starting lineup and still be able to raise the level and get a win out of that, and then continue that momentum into this last game, that really speaks to the future of this team and what Emma has done here.”

New Zealand lost both of its friendly games during the international window, both to Mexico.

The match was played at CPKC stadium, the first purpose-built women’s soccer stadium in the world, which is home to the NWSL’s Kansas City Current. Cooper plays for the Current.

Before the game the New Zealand squad honored former captain Ali Riley, who has retired from professional soccer. Riley played 163 matches for the team.

The United States has played without many of the stars that won the gold medal at the Olympics. Trinity Rodman has a right MCL injury, while Wilson and Mallory Swanson are on maternity leave.

The United States went into the match with a 19-1-1 record against New Zealand. The two teams last met ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, with the U.S. winning both in Auckland.

The United States plays its final matches of the year against Italy on Nov. 28 in Orlando, Florida, and on Dec. 1 in Fort Lauderdale.

Reporting by The Associated Press. 

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