Emma Hayes made 11 changes for Sunday night’s match against Australia. Like, all 11 players. This was a totally different U.S. women’s national team than the one that took down Colombia on Thursday night. This was a team loaded with youth and inexperience. Hayes was clearly throwing putting them to the test.
They survived, but only just. It finished as a 2-1 win over Australia, a narrow victory that will keep the USWNT alive in their quest to win the 2025 SheBelieves Cup. Considering the inexperience in this team, though, Sunday’s victory seemed to be something bigger – a major step forward for a group of young up-and-comers fighting to be more than that in advance of the 2027 World Cup.
It was a veteran who scored the USWNT’s first less than a minute into the match. Lynn Biyendolo, formerly Williams, was the goalscorer, capping a sequence led by young stars Emma Sears and Jaedyn Shaw. It was largely the youth that stood out in a game that saw Hayes name the youngest USWNT XI since 2001.
“I feel like this is a new chapter for me,” Biyendolo told TNT. “I changed teams in my NWSL career, I changed last names (after an offseason marriage), but more importantly I’m just excited to wear the crest and help out my country.”
Young stars made an impact off the bench, too. Ally Sentnor and Michelle Cooper combined for the USWNT’s second goal, and the U.S. will be glad they did as that turned out to be the game-winner. Cooper’s finish – her first international goal – made Australia’s 80th-minute goal just a consolation as the U.S. held out for the final 10 minutes.
It will be a memorable day for Cooper, of course. It was a big one for Sears, too, who made her own case for more chances. Perhaps the biggest winners of all were the Thompson sisters, who started alongside one another to make USWNT history. Sunday marked just the fourth time in U.S. history that sisters have started a match together, with the other three of course being the Mewis sisters, Kristie and Samantha.
There were young stars spread throughout the pitch. Virtually all of them can leave with heads held high.
Wednesday night’s SheBelieves Cup final against Japan won’t be about feel-good stories, though. Japan rolled to back-to-back victories, as well, scoring four goals in each match. This was the time to experiment, and that’s what Hayes did.
Now, heading into the last match of this tournament, the USWNT coach will have to pick a strongest XI – and several players made their cases to be in it with their performances in this win over Australia.
GOAL rates the USWNT’s players from State Farm Stadium.