US Women’s Soccer to Battle Canada With Gold Medal Match Berth at Stake originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
It hasn’t been the easiest ride for the U.S. women’s national team in the Tokyo Olympics, but they are exactly where they expected to be after four matches: in the semifinal.
The USWNT lost its first match of group play, a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Sweden. They followed that up with an impressive 6-1 bounce-back win over New Zealand. The group stage concluded with a 0-0 draw against Australia.
Moving into the knockout round, the U.S. narrowly survived the quarterfinal, defeating Netherlands 4-2 in penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw through 120 minutes.
Looking ahead to the semifinal, Canada stands in the way as a familiar foe. Canada is the most frequent opponent in USWNT history, including twice in Olympics history.
The two nations last met in the Olympics back in 2012, with the U.S. topping Canada 4-3 in extra time. Alex Morgan scored the decisive goal in stoppage time to send the U.S. to the final.
Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher has been the star for the USWNT in Tokyo. In the quarterfinal victory, Naeher denied a penalty kick in the 81st minute and then made two of four saves in the shootout to seal the victory.
The USWNT match against Canada begins at 4 a.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 2, and it can be streamed live here: