Summit County Citizens Voice

Abby Wambach in a Feb. 11, 2012 match against New Zealand. Photo courtesy U.S. Soccer.

Fan tribute tour includes Sept. 19 game against Australia

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Fresh off an Olympic gold medal, the U.S. women’s national soccer team is starting its fan tribute tour this weekend, and the series of friendly matches includes a Sept. 19 game against Australia at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City.

The tour starts this weekend in Rochester, the hometown of striker Abby Wambach. NBC will broadcast the match live, with other matches scheduled to air on various ESPN channels.

Another match against Australia is set a few days earlier in California, with two later matches against Germany set for Oct. 20 and 23 at yet-to-determined locations. Check the U.S. Soccer website for more details.

The U.S. Team has won 20 of its last 22 games including an undefeated run through the Olympics that culminated with a thrilling 4-3 win over Canada in the semis and a 2-1 win over world champion Japan in front of 80,000 fans in London’s Wembley Stadium.

No soccer team, men’s or women’s, has ever won four Olympic golds. The tournament  included a 2-1 overtime victory against Brazil.

During the London games,  USA goalkeeper Hope Solo broke the consecutive minutes streak by a goalkeeper during the team’s thrilling 4-3 victory against Canada in the semifinals.

Solo entered the match with 900 consecutive minutes, with previous record holder Briana Scurry posting 990 minutes from 1994-95. Because the Canada match went into overtime, Solo surpassed Scurry’s mark with 1,020, and she currently sits at 1,110 minutes during a streak that started April 1 in a 1-1 draw against Japan.

The U.S. is currently the top-ranked team in the world after 11 straight wins. Overall the team has a 390-57-54 record since it started playing in 1985.

Filed under: Colorado Tagged: | Abby Wambach, Colorado, fan tribute tour, Gold medal, Hope Solo, soccer, United States women's national soccer team, US women's national team