US Women Olympics Update

What a crazy tournament it has been for the US Women, and even for all of Group G. While the USA got off to a bad start losing to Norway 1-0 in their first match, they have managed to come out on top of their group after Japan defeated Norway 5-1, putting Norway in 2nd place in the group. The US finished group play with 6 points as well as Noway, but the US had a better goal differential.

The US advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating New Zealand 4-0. Heather O'Reilly got the scoring started just 40 seconds into the game, making it the fastest goal in Women's Olympic History. New Zealand's keeper cleared the ball into the midfield and Carli Lloyd won the header. The ball bounced towards O'Reilly who noticed the keeper was off her line and took a shot form 23 yards out. The ball sailed into the right corner.

The next goal came late in the 2nd half. US defender Rachel Buehler played a long pass to Amy Rodriguez. Using her speed she got in behind the defense and took a left-footed strike that skipped past Jenny Bindon, (New Zealand's keeper) into the lower right corner.

The third goal was scored in the 57th minute. Rodriguez faced the keeper one-on-one in the area, but Bindon came off her line and reacted quickly to save the ball. The rebound bounced into the middle of the area where O'Reilly got a toe on it but the Kiwi defense deflected it. Lindsay Tarpley reacted quick to it and volleyed into the right corner for her 11th goal this year.

Angela Hucles closed the scoring just four minutes later. Lori Chalupny ran down the left flank and got around a defender and blasted a shot that hit the crossbar. The ball fell right to Hucles who was able to shoot the ball through Bindon's hands.

This win put the USA at the top of their group. They advanced to the quarterfinals along with Canada and Japan.

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The US then played Canada in the quarterfinals. An early goal in the 12th minute gave the US the lead. The goal started off from a long pass from Christie Rampone to Hucles. The ball was played to O'Reilly, Tarpley, and Carli Lloyd, who switched the ball to Rodriguez on the right who crossed a perfect ball to O'Reilly. She headed the ball down to Canada's Erin McLeod who got her fingertips on the ball. Hucles was at the back post to put the ball into the the goal. 10 minutes after the goal, the game was stopped at the 21st minute and delayed for 1 hour and 39 minutes thanks to all the lightning, thunder, and rain. Both teams came back out and had 15 minutes to warm up. The match was started where it left off with a throw in by Canada.

The equalizer came in the 30th minute as the US failed to control a throw-in in their own third. Clare Rustad tackled the ball away from Lloyd, which went into Cristine Sinclair's path. She shot a rocket into the top right corner that just got past US keeper Hope Solo.

Canada went into a defending style of play, while the US played the possession style that head coach Pia Sundhage has been asking for. Their patience got them a lot of scoring chances, but none were finished off. The game went into extra time. Natasha Kai was subbed in for O'Reilly to play for 30 minutes. The US kept pressing and pressing the Canadian defense. In the 101st minute, Rodriguez played the ball back to Shannon Boxx who took a left-footed cross into area. Kai scored the game-winning goal on a diving header. It was the perfect ending for the US, and a heart-breaking one for the Canadians who were trying to go for a medal in their first-ever Olympic appearance.

This match marked the 200th cap for US captain, Christie Rampone. Forward Lauren Cheney made her Olympic debut in the 109th minute when she subbed in for Amy Rodriguez. In 11 minutes, she managed to take 2 dangerous shots, get a yellow card, and help the US keep possession. Shannon Boxx earned her 100th cap, becoming just the 22nd female player in US history to do so. This match also marked the final game for Canadian head coach Even Pellerud.

In the other quarterfinal action, Japan defeated host China 2-0, Germany defeated Sweden 2-0 with 2 goals in extra time, and Brazil defeated Norway 2-1. The US now looks to move on to the Gold Medal match and defend their gold medal when they face Japan next in the semifinals, while Germany faces Brazil.

The US match will be aired on Monday morning at 9 pm local time, 9 am ET on MSNBC. Brazil faces Germany at 6 pm local time, 6 am ET.