AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. women's national team may have looked a little rusty, but the squad won its first match since its remarkable gold medal run at the Paris Olympics, beating Iceland 3-1 on Thursday night at Q2 Stadium.
Alyssa Thompson, who was not part of the Olympics team this summer, opened the scoring with a banger in the 39th minute. This was the 19-year-old's 10th cap, but her first-ever international goal, and it was a thing of beauty.
Then Jaedyn Shaw, also 19, scored the winning goal when she nutmegged Iceland's goalkeeper to give the U.S. a 2-1 edge late in the second half.
Sophia Smith, part of the now famous Triple Espresso front line, added a third goal for good measure. Before the scoring frenzy in the final minutes of the match, however, the U.S.