Cal at the Olympics: Alex Morgan, USA Lose to Canada in Soccer Semifinals
For the second straight Olympics, USA and former Cal star Alex Morgan failed to reach the gold medal game in women's soccer.
On Monday, Canada ended a 36-game winless streak against the Americans by beating the United States 1-0 in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics. The only goal came on a second-half penalty kick against the Americans' backup goaltender. (Videos of the foul and penalty kick below.)
So instead of playing in the gold medal game, the Americans will play for the bronze at 1 a.m. Thursday Pacific time (4 a.m. Eastern time). The opponent will be Australia, which lost to Sweden 1-0 in the other semifinal match.
Former Cal star Alex Morgan was back in the starting lineup in the semifinals and played 60 minutes before being replaced in the second half. She attempted two shots, neither of which was on goal.
Morgan had been the hero in the Americans' 4-3 victory over Canada in the semifinals of the 2012 Olympics by scoring the winning goal in the closing seconds of the second overtime period.
There was no such late-game heroics this time, as the United States was shut out for the third time in its five matches at these Olympic Games.
Alex Morgan (13) in Monday's semifinal game. Photo by Geoff Burke, USA Today
And you have to wonder how many more games the 32-year-old Morgan will play for the U.S. Women's National Team. She proved that pregnancy and giving birth to her first child in May 2020 does not end a career. Morgan has scored one goal in these Olympics so far, although she also converted a crucial penalty kick in the shootout win over The Netherlands.
Morgan has played in 183 international matches for the USA, and her 111 goals rank fifth in the national team's history and eighth among all players in international soccer play.
The Washington Post reports that the U.S. should consider overhauling its aging roster. Carli Lloyd is 39. Megan Rapinoe is 36. Tobin Heath and Alyssa Naeher are 33, and Kelley O'Hara turns 33 this week. Christen Press is 32.
The U.S. was the favorite to win a fifth Olympic gold medal this year. The Americans had captured the gold medal the first year in which women's soccer was an Olympic event in 1996, and after winning silver four years later, they rattled off three straight gold-medal performances (2004, 2008, 2012). But they lost to Sweden in a penalty-kick shootout in the 2016 quarterfinals, and failed to reach the final again this year.
The U.S. won the 2019 World Cup and is ranked No. 1 in the world.
The Americans had a 51-3-7 record against Canada entering this semifinal game and had not lost to the Canadians since 1991.
But after winning the bronze medal in each of the two previous Olympics, Canada will play in the gold-medal game for the first time.
USA outshot the Canadians 13-3 and the Americans had four shots on goal to just two for Canada, but one of Canada's shots was a penalty kick that was converted by Jessie Fleming in the 75th minute against the Americans' backup goalie.
The penalty came when the Americans seemed to be controlling play. USA defender Tierna Davidson was attempting to play a ball at the right side of the U.S. box when she inadvertently kicked the leg of Canada's Deanne from behind.
Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul did not make a call at first, but after a long pause, the replay official convinced Monzul to take a look at the video, and the referee awarded the penalty after the VAR review.
Here is the penalty
In goal for USA at the time was not Alyssa Naeher, who had saved two shots in the penalty-kick shootout against The Netherlands as well as a second-half penalty kick that would have given the Dutch team the lead. But Naeher had been forced out of the semifinal in the first half with an injury.
Instead it was Adrianna Franch in goal, and she was unable to stop the penalty kick by Fleming.
Here is the penalty kick:
Naeher had been injured midway through the first half. She had leaped to grab a Canadian cross and collided with teammate Julie Ertz, causing Naeher to land awkwardly on her right foot.
Naeher received treatment from the trainer and stayed in the game briefly before being replaced by Franch in the 30th minute.
Franch was making her seventh appearance for the USA, but her first in a world-championship match.
"It's terrible. We just didn't have it today," Rapinoe said after the match. "Just too many errors from us again. I felt like the space was there for us to play and we just couldn't get into it, too many touches or, you know, an errant touch.
"That's football. They got, I think, one shot on goal, a PK, and from what it sounds like it was a PK. So yeah, it's a bitter one to swallow. Obviously we never want to lose to Canada. I don't think I've ever lost to Canada.
"So it's a bitter one. Obviously there's still a lot to compete for. That's what I told the girls and what we talked about in the huddle. It's not the color we want, but there's still a medal on the line. That's a huge thing and we want to win that game, but yeah, this is ... this sucks. It sucks."
Men's water polo
Former Cal standouts Johnny Hooper and Luca Cupido were in the starting lineup for the United States against Greece, but neither scored in the Americans' 14-5 loss to Greece in their final game of Group A men's water polo play.
The game was virtually meaningless since the U.S. had already clinched a berth in the quarterfinals. The U.S. will face Spain at 10 p.m. Tuesday (Pacific time) in its first match of the knock-out round.
Hooper play 19 minutes against Greece, and Cupido logged nearly 25 minutes of playing time. USA finished 2-3 in group play.
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Cover photo of Alex Morgan by Geoff Burke, USA Today.
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