Former Patrick Henry High School and San Diego Surf SC standout Mia Fishel scored her first goal with the U.S. women’s national team in a 3-0 victory over Colombia Sunday in an exhibition at Snapdragon Stadium.
After replacing San Diego Wave FC forward Alex Morgan at the start of the second half, Fishel headed a cross from Emily Sonnett past Colombian goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda in the 56th minute to open the scoring.
“Mia, I think the first thing she brought to the game right away is just being able to settle the ball back to goal, hold onto the ball, allow people to join,” said U.S. interim coach Twila Kilgore. “I thought she did a really good job at that.
“Obviously scoring a goal, that is a big thing and something that we talked about across the whole team.”
The U.S. increased its lead to 2-0 in the 62nd minute when defender Emily Fox sent a cross from the right wing to Lindsey Horan, who put a volley from about 12 yards out inside the left goalpost for the 30th goal of her international career in 137 games.
Horan has 34 career assists and is the 16th player in U.S. women’s national team history with at least 30 international goals and 30 assists.
Wave forward Jaedyn Shaw scored her first national team goal in the 83rd minute. Alyssa Thompson worked with Horan to force a turnover in Colombia’s defensive third, drove to the top of the penalty area, then passed to Shaw, who took a touch, then put a shot from near the penalty spot past Sepulveda, who had moved to about six yards off the goal line.
At 18 years and 343 days, Shaw is the youngest player to score for the U.S. women’s national team since Mallory Swanson scored against Colombia at the 2016 Summer Olympics at 18 years and 102 days of age.
The U.S. led 20-3 in shots and 7-2 in shots on goal in front of a crowd announced at 16,202 for its first game at Snapdragon Stadium, which opened in August 2022.
Casey Murphy made two saves for her fifth shutout of 2023 as the U.S. remained undefeated for the year, improving to 12-0-4.
The U.S. also remained undefeated in San Diego, 8-0-1. It has played four games each at SDCCU Stadium and Torero Stadium.
The U.S. is also undefeated against Colombia, 10-0-2.
Both Fishel and Shaw were playing their second games for the national team.
Fishel made her national team debut Sept. 24 in a 2-0 victory over South Africa in Chicago, entering the game in the 65th minute.
Shaw made her national team debut in Thursday’s 0-0 tie with Colombia in Sandy, Utah, entering the game in the 87th minute. She entered Sunday’s game at the start of the second half.
The 22-year-old Fishel plays for Chelsea FC Women of England’s Women’s Super League. She completed her three-season college career at UCLA in 2021 and began her professional career with Tigres of Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil in 2022 and led the league with 17 goals in 17 games.
Fishel signed a three-year contract with Chelsea Aug. 4.
A third Wave player also played for the U.S. Sunday, defender Naomi Girma, who played all 90 minutes in her 24th national team appearance.
The U.S. is third in the rankings compiled by FIFA, soccer’s worldwide governing body. Colombia is ranked 22nd.
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