High school sophomore Alexa Orand set up one goal and added a spectacular second as the U.S. under-19 women's soccer team Tuesday night opened a four-nation tournament at the Home Depot Center with a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands' U-19s.

Orand, from nearby Orange, Calif., crossed for Kerri Hanks' third-minute opener and added a 79th-minute goal with a blast from the left flank that went in off the far post.

Japan beat China, 2-1, in the first match at the Philips Lighting Women's Soccer Invitational, which continues at the HDC with doubleheaders Thursday and Saturday.

All four teams are preparing for their confederations' qualifying tournaments leading to the Nov. 10-27 FIFA World U-19 Championship in Thailand.

The American women, playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation, dictated terms most of the match, outshooting an organized Dutch side, 13-2. University of Texas midfielder Carrie Schmit, who came on at halftime, hit the right post in the 51st minute.

Yael Averbuch, a high school junior from Upper Montclair, N.J., had an outstanding match in midfield, and Stanford defender Rachel Buehler was nearly flawless at left back. Sheree Gray, a Penn State recruit from Toms River, N.J., made several dangerous runs from midfield.

The Americans took an early lead as Averbuch sent a ball down the left flank and Orand crossed to Hanks near the top of the box. Hanks, an Allen, Texas, high-schooler headed for Notre Dame, turned past a defender and whipped the ball to the upper-right corner.

Orand's goal, from what appeared to be a half-shot, half-cross, followed a ball up the left flank from Chioma Igwe, a California recruit from Belmont, Calif., earning her first U-19 cap.

The match was played on the HDC's field-turf training field before an audience of about 250, including U.S. national team coach April Heinrichs and former U-19 players Lindsay Tarpley, Heather O'Reilly, Leslie Osborne and Lori Chalupny, who are in the national-team residency. O'Reilly is age-eligible for the U-19 squad.

The CONCACAF qualifying tournament, slated May 28-June 6 in Montreal and Ottawa, will be played on field turf, an artificial surface. The Americans learned Monday they will meet Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and the Dominican Republic in Group B play.

Aya Miyama was pivotal in Japan's victory in a slow-paced match Tuesday, setting up goals by Asuka Kubota and Mami Yamaguchi and causing havoc in the Chinese defense all afternoon.

Liu Sa gave China a 15th-minute lead, but Kubota finished Miyama's free kick from the left flank just before halftime, and Yamaguchi beat goalkeeper Weng Xiaojie in the 80th minute after a dynamic Miyama run from midfield.

The China-Japan game was played on the grassy HDC Training Field No. 4.

PHILIPS LIGHTING WOMEN'S INVITATIONAL
UNDER-19 TOURNAMENT
at Home Depot Center (Carson)

W L T GF GA Pts
 United States 1 0 0 2 0 3
Japan 1 0 0 2 1 3
China 0 1 0 1 2 0
Netherlands 0 1 0 0 2 0

Tuesday, April 6
China 1 (Liu 15) Japan 2 (Kubota 44, Yamaguchi 80)
United States 2 (Hanks 3, Orand 79) Netherlands 0

Thursday, April 8
China vs. Netherlands on HDC Training Field 4, 4 p.m. PT
United States vs. Japan on HDC Training Field 5, 6:30 p.m. PT

Saturday, April 10
Japan vs. Netherlands on HDC Training Field 4, 11 a.m. PT
United States vs. China on HDC Training Field 5, 1 p.m. PT

TUESDAY'S SUMMARIES

United States 2 Netherlands 0. Goals: Hanks 3, Orand 79.

United States — Harris; Buczkowski, Lindstrom (Krzysik, 46), Sauerbrunn, Buehler; Redmond (Schmit, 46), Averbuch; Schnugg, Gray (Igwe, 66), Orand; Hanks (Davis, 46).

Netherlands — Guerts; Snoeck (Bakker, 46), van Leeuwen (van Dalen, 46), Bijl, Hogewoning (van den Berg, 84); de Vries (Brummel, 75); van den Ven (Brouwer, 66), Stuart; Melis, Dekker (Vermeulen, 46), Smit.

Yellow card: Netherlands — de Vries 49.

Referee: Mark Arblaster (U.S.).

Att.: 250.

China 1 Japan 2. Goals: Liu 15; Kubota 44, Yamaguchi 80.

China — Weng Xiaojie; Gao, Weng Xinzji (L. Guo, 87), Y. Sun, Y. Guo; Xu; Lou (Fan, 52), Hou, You, L. Sun (Wang, 77); Liu.

Japan — Kishi; Iwashimizu, Toyoda (Okuda, 46), Nakaoka, Higashiyama; Ito (Kawasumi, 46), Utsugi, Iseki (Sakaguchi, 46); Sato (Yamguchi, 46), Kubota (Minamiyama, 77), Miyama.

Yellow cards: None.

Referee: Sandra Serafini (U.S.).

Att.: 50.