Mewis, Lloyd Lead USWNT Over South Africa in Pre-World Cup Friendly
In a pre-Women's World Cup friendly that saw few genuine scoring opportunities for both teams, Sam Mewis provided the magic touch for the USWNT on Sunday as her brace gave the Americans a 3-0 win over South Africa.
The USWNT got behind the South African defense quite a few times but found good shots and accurate passes hard to come by for much of the game. That didn't seem to be a problem for Mewis, who—in a game that featured a strike force of Tobin Heath, Alex Morgan and Christen Press—proved to be the Americans' most dangerous attacker.
After a frustrating first half in which the U.S. appeared to be headed to halftime without a goal thanks to some last-ditch defending by South Africa, Mewis provided the breakthrough in the 37th minute. Rose Lavelle slipped a pass through the opposition's defense to set up Mewis for a shot at the top of the box that evaded Andile Dlamini.
Lavelle played provider once again right before halftime to set up Heath, but Dlamini was able to save the ball at her near post to keep the score 1-0 at the interval.
It took the USWNT until deep in the second half to find its second goal but Mewis was on point once again, this time narrowly getting on the end of a Rapinoe cross in the 78th to double the Americans' lead and help secure their win.
Carli Lloyd's stoppage-time strike nutmegged the 'keeper and provided the finishing touch on the game.
The USWNT's next match will be against New Zealand on May 16 at 8 p.m. ET.
