A game between the national teams of the USA and Canada are always special, so when they met in the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s championship game, the only thing on the line was national pride.
The United States Women’s National Team had already punched their ticket to France and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup with a 6-0 semifinal shutout over Jamaica. In the final they beat their neighbors from the North 2-0.
In fact the U.S. team pitched nothing but shutouts, sweeping group play over Trinidad & Tobago, Panama and Mexico. In five games the U.S. women outscored the opposition 26-0.
The Americans are unbeaten in their last 26 matches with a combined goals scored of 91-17 in that stretch.
Julie Ertz earned was the tournament’s top defender and Alex Morgan earned the Golden Ball as the top goal scorer. She, along with Tobin Heath, scored in all five games. Morgan scored seven goals.
Next up for the team are two games in Europe. They play Portugal in Lisbon on Nov. 8 (1 p.m. ESPN2) and Scotland in Glasgow on Nov. 13 (2 p.m. FS1).
One veteran who will not be with the team is defender Kelley O’Hara, who will undergo arthroscopic ankle surgery to remove loose bodies in her right ankle. She is expected to be sidelined for 8-12 weeks.
O’Hara has 112 caps for the USA and started four games in the CONCACAP tournament.
“It’s all good,” said O’Hara, a Georgia native. “These kind of things come with the territory. This is just the best time to get the procedure done so I’m 100% heading into 2019.”