US women beat Costa Rica 7-2 in rainy exhibition
United States midfielder Heather O’Reilly (9) celebrates after scoring a goal against Costa Rica during the first half of a women’s friendly soccer match on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015, in Pittsburgh. AP
CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee—Carli Lloyd and Heather O’Reilly each scored twice and the United States beat Costa Rica 7-2 on Wednesday night in a Women’s World Cup victory tour exhibition game that included an 83-minute weather delay.
Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan also scored for the U.S. in its second friendly since winning the Women’s World Cup six weeks ago. The Americans beat Costa Rica 8-0 on Sunday in Pittsburgh.
The U.S. led 2-0 on goals by Lloyd and O’Reilly when lightning in the area forced a weather delay in the 16th minute. Although rain hadn’t started to fall when the game was delayed due to lightning, the stoppage featured heavy rain and dozens of lightning strikes.
The majority of the sellout crowd of 20,535 stayed through the rain delay, and those fans were rewarded when the U.S. scored three times in the first 8 minutes after play resumed.
Wambach started the flurry in the 18th minute by scoring her 184th career international goal on an assist from Lori Chalupny, who announced Monday she was retiring from international competition at the end of this tour. Lloyd scored her second goal 2 minutes later. O’Reilly added her second goal in the 23rd minute with a header off a cross from Wambach.
The U.S. made it 6-0 in the 31st minute when Costa Rica’s Katherine Alvarado inadvertently knocked the ball into her own team’s net. The U.S. team cruised from there to extend its home unbeaten streak to 98 games.
Costa Rica got goals from Cristin Granados in the 41st minute and Karla Villalobos in the 69th minute. Those marked the first two goals Costa Rica has ever scored on the U.S. in 12 meetings.
Morgan closed the scoring in the 81st minute in her first appearance since the Women’s World Cup. Morgan didn’t play Sunday after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on her right knee July 17.
The U.S. was playing in Chattanooga a month after the July 16 attacks on two military facilities here that resulted in the deaths of four Marines and a sailor, the U.S. players wore black armbands as they took the field, and a moment of silence was held before the game. The section of the stands containing the American Outlaws fan group broke into sustained applause in the fifth minute of the game to honor the five victims.
U.S. team officials said the U.S. players plan to autograph the jerseys they’re wearing in the game and put them up for auction, with proceeds benefiting the Chattanooga Heroes Fund that supports families of those who were killed or wounded in the attacks.
