ST. LOUIS — The U.S. women’s national team defeated New Zealand 5-0 Thursday night in the second of three Send-off Series games before the 2019 Women’s World Cup begins next month in France.
Utah Royals FC players Kelley O’Hara and Becky Sauerbrunn started for the U.S. while defender Katie Bowen started for New Zealand.
Forward Christen Press came on as a substitute for the U.S. in the 73rd minute.
Tobin Heath opened the scoring for the U.S. in the 35th minute, tapping home a cross from Megan Rapinoe.
Rose Lavelle scored her seventh goal for the national team in the 40th minute, getting her redirection to sneak in under the crossbar.
Carli Lloyd made it 3-0 with her first touch of the game in the 61st minute, collecting a pass from Heath inside the penalty area and slotting the ball past the goalkeeper and inside the right post.
Lloyd added a second goal in the 83rd minute and Samantha Mewis made it 5-0 just one minute later.
The U.S. will take on Mexico on May 26 in New Jersey in its final warm-up game before heading to France for the World Cup.
The 2019 Women’s World Cup can be seen here on FOX 13, beginning June 7.
The U.S. will open its World Cup campaign against Thailand on June 11 at 1:00 p.m. MDT.
