US women earn fifth straight shutout with 5-0 victory over Chile

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Croix Bethune, Jameese Joseph and Emily Sams all scored their first international goals and the United States went on to beat Chile 5-0 on Tuesday night.

Emma Sears and Trinity Rodman also scored for the United States, which hasn’t conceded a goal in five matches.

Coach Emma Hayes went with a completely different starting lineup in the match at UC Santa Barbara than the one she used on Saturday for the team’s 6-0 victory over Paraguay in Carson, California. Players on the roster averaged 5.2 national team appearances, fewest for a lineup since 2001.

“I think in both games, the team, regardless of its inexperience as a collective, regardless of the connections that are there because they haven’t played together before, I think they showed an awful lot of maturity in the performance, and that’s all I can ask from them,” Hayes said. “They always do me proud. But I’m impressed by everybody’s approach.”

Bethune, who plays for the Washington Spirit, opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Chile goalkeeper Ryann Torrero came out to stop Bethune, who was rushing at the goal alone, but the strike got past her.

Joseph, who plays for the Chicago Stars, earned her first start for the United States and scored in the 26th minute.

Sams, serving as captain, made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute with a goal off a cross from Sears.

The United States made it 4-0 just 28 seconds into the second half with a goal from Sears that went to the far post and into the upper corner. Rodman scored in her second straight match in the 68th minute, just five minutes after she came on.

Afterward, Rodman ran to the bench and danced, urging Hayes to join her, and the coach reluctantly obliged with a laugh. Rodman then urged the crowd to cheer.

“I’m proud of myself. I told you guys I was going to do it and I did it. I’m just really happy and happy that Emma was confident enough to do it with me,” Rodman said.

Midfielder Riley Jackson and defender Ayo Oke both appeared in their first international match. Three players — forwards Reilyn Turner and Maddie Dahlien and midfielder Sally Menti — made their U.S. debuts against Paraguay.

The roster did not include U.S. players based in Europe because they are in the middle of their seasons. It also did not include Gotham FC players, who are in London for the semifinals of the first FIFA Women’s Champions Cup.

The match against Chile concludes the U.S. team’s January training camp, as Hayes looks to solidify her player pool for the upcoming SheBelieves Cup, starting in March, and Women’s World Cup qualifying at the end of the year.

“I don’t think you can really look at this camp as like `They didn’t do their job, they’re not as good as we think they should be,’ because after all we’re coming off an offseason of a lot of players not playing, some players playing, a bunch of new faces,” Rodman said. “I stayed fit and ready in the offseason because of the injuries I’ve dealt with, and I felt really good out there.”

The last meeting between the United States and Chile was a 3-0 U.S. victory at the 2019 World Cup. Chile, ranked No. 47 in the world, has made just one World Cup appearance.

The United States previously held a training camp at UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium ahead of the 1991 World Cup, which included scrimmages against the Gauchos and a West Coast all-star team. That U.S. team, including Mia Hamm and Michelle Akers, went on to win the World Cup.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer