The U.S. womenÆs national team won its 2005 home opener, defeating Canada, 2-0, Sunday at the Virginia Beach SportsPlex.
Lori Chalupny and Christie Welsh scored for the USA in the first half as Greg Ryan came out victorious in his first match as the team's new head coach.
''For us to come in after a three month layoff with six days of training and to play as well as we did against a team playing their eighth international game in the last two months,'' said Ryan. ''For us to do that I was so impressed with our players, to be able to play that well on six days training. Nobody is really in form right now, but it looked awfully good.''
In the 12th minute, Chalupny scored on a left-footed half volley into the lower right corner past the sprawling Canadian goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc from 19 yards out. It was ChalupnyÆs second career goal and first scored from the back line. á
Welsh added the second goal just 10 minutes from the end of the first half. The frontline of Heather OÆReilly, Abby Wambach and Welsh and midfielder Aly Wagner were all involved in the counterattack with Welsh tapping in from close range after LeBlanc saved on Wambach following good buildup by O'Reilly and Wagner.
The match also marked the return of forward Tiffeny Milbrett to the National Team as she came on in the 63rd minute to earn her historic 200th cap. Milbrett now joins just four other players, all Americans û Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett û in a select group that has played 200 times for their country.
Marci Miller, the newly hired head womenÆs soccer coach at Northern Illinois, earned her first-ever cap at 29 when she came on for Shannon Boxx in the closing minute.
June 26 in Virginia Beach, Va.
USA 2 Canada 0. Goals: Chalupny 12, Welsh 35.
USA — Solo, LePeilbet, Reddick, Markgraf, Chalupny, Boxx (Miller, 91+), Wagner (Fair, 91), Lilly, Welsh (Milbrett, 63), OÆReilly (Hucles, 61), Wambach Fotopoulos, 61)
Canada — LeBlanc, Schmidt, Chapman, Hermus, Lang, Matheson (Tancredi, 81), Walsh, Cicchini (Morneau, 64), Timko (Latham, 46); Thorlakson (Hooper, 68), Sinclair.
Referee: Rachel Woo (USA)
Att.: 3,215.