Japan rallies to tie U.S. women in Colorado
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. >> Kumi Yokoyama scored in stoppage time to give Japan a 3-3 tie with the United States on Thursday night in a rematch of the Americans’ victory last year in the Women’s World Cup final.
Alex Morgan scored twice, and Lindsey Horan added a goal to help the United States overcome a 2-0 deficit.
Mana Iwabuchi and Yuki Ogimi also scored for Japan. Japan was reduced to 10 players when Ogimi received a second yellow card and was ejected in the 57th minute.
The game featured the finalists from the last two World Cups and the 2012 London Olympics. Japan won the 2011 World Cup on penalty kicks, and the U.S. won in 2012 and ‘15.
It looked as if the Americans would prevail again when Horan, from nearby Golden, scored in the 89th minute to give the U.S. a 3-2 lead, but Yokoyama got free to beat goalkeeper Hope Solo.
The Americans dropped to 11-0-1 this year.
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The teams will play again Sunday in Cleveland.
Japan, which did not qualify for the Rio Olympics, took an early 2-0 lead.
Iwabuchi ended Solo’s shutout streak when she maneuvered around defensemen Emily Sonnett and Becky Sauerbrunn and curled a shot into the top left corner in the 14th minute.
Ogimi scored in the 22nd. It was the first time the U.S. trailed by that score since losing to France on Feb. 8, 2015. It was the first time the U.S. trailed by two goals at home since a 3-1 loss to Denmark in November 2014.
The U.S. rallied to tie it on Morgan goals that pushed her career total to 66.
Colorado native Mallory Pugh fed Morgan for her first goal in the 27th minute.
The U.S. took advantage Ogimi’s ejection to tie it, with Morgan redirecting Tobin Heath’s pass past goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita in the 64th minute.
The Americans played without World Cup hero Carli Lloyd. She strained a knee April 23 playing for the Houston Dash.