04/14/26 11:21:00
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04/14 23:19 CDT Maika Hamano scores to give Japan 1-0 win over USWNT
Maika Hamano scores to give Japan 1-0 win over USWNT
By ANDREW DESTIN
AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE (AP) --- Maika Hamano scored and Japan beat the U.S. women's national
team 1-0 in a friendly on Tuesday tight to snap the Americans' 10-game winning
streak.
The loss was the first for the U.S. since Oct. 23, 2025, a 2-1 setback to
Portugal, and marked the first time the Americans lost in a shutout in 42
games. The U.S. had won 10 straight matches for the first time since 2023 after
its 2-1 victory against Japan on Saturday.
Before Saturday, Japan had won the last meeting with the United States 2-1 in
the 2025 SheBelieves Cup final.
Hamano fooled Lilly Reale, and then booted a left-footed shot over goalkeeper
Phallon Tullis-Joyce's outstretched left hand in the 27th minute.
U.S. coach Emma Hayes made sweeping changes to the lineup she had used on
Saturday in San Jose, resting players including Sophia Wilson and Trinity
Rodman, who started in the previous game.
Wilson and Rodman entered as substitutes in the 65th minute, as did Tierna
Davidson and Gisele Thompson. Davidson had not played for the United States
since February 2025, after tearing her ACL in a match with Gotham FC last March.
Wilson played for the second straight match after the birth of her daughter.
She had not played for the U.S. since October 2024.
Tuesday marked the first time the U.S. women's national team played on the new
grass that has been installed at Lumen Field for this summer's World Cup. The
women's team had not been to Lumen since 2017 because of the stadium's
artificial turf.
The announced crowd was 36,128 for the game, which broke the record for a
standalone women's match in Seattle. Megan Rapinoe's retirement match with the
Seattle Reign in 2023 drew 34,130 fans.
The finale of the three-game series between the U.S. and Japan is slated for
Friday in Commerce City, Colorado.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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