(Photo courtesy of Carl Gulbish)
The U.S. Women’s National Team is finding their groove.
Ally Sentnor scored an early second half goal against Canada Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio, to lead the U.S. to a 1-0 victory and take control of their SheBelieves Cup destiny. After the U.S. beat Argentina 2-0 in Nashville on Sunday, the team returns to the region to face Colombia Saturday afternoon at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.
A win or a draw will likely be enough for the U.S. to claim the title, something they did not do last year when they finished second after falling to Japan 2-1 in the tournament’s finale. The U.S. has won seven of the previous ten editions of the SheBelieves Cup, and prior to 2024, they had won five-straight.
The U.S. will face a rising Colombia team that has given them fits in recent years. The U.S. defeated Colombia 2-0 in last year’s SheBelieves with goals from Catarina Macario and Sentnor, the latter’s first with the USWNT. Sentnor leads the team in goals in 2026 with three. She also scored twice against Paraguay in a 6-0 friendly win in January.
“It’s amazing to win in our second game and set ourselves up really well for the third game,”Sentnor said Wednesday night. “I always have so much joy scoring for this team, playing for this team.”
The game winner 😤
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) March 5, 2026
🥅 @ATT play of the match pic.twitter.com/0zIv081zFf
In the opener against Argentina, captain Lindsay Heaps scored the first and assisted the second from Jaedyn Shaw. Heaps, the current leader in caps (172) and goals (39), has now scored in twelve-straight calendar years. The midfielder from Golden, Colorado recently returned to the states after signing a four-year contract in January with NWSL newcomers Denver Summit. Heaps had been with world powerhouse OL Lyonnes since 2022. The 2019 World Cup and 2024 Olympic Gold Medal winner previously won the NWSL Championship with the Portland Thorns in 2017 and was named the league’s Player of the Year in 2018.
Heaps has been the backbone of USWNT coach Emma Hayes’ preparations for the next World Cup/Olympic cycles. Hayes has given numerous opportunities to younger, less experienced players as she continues to experiment with her preferred squad. Giselle Thompson (20), Lily Yohannes (18), Olivia Moultrie (20), and Shaw (21) represent the youth movement that will likely add depth within the current cycle, eventually forming the core for the next one. But they all started against Argentina and logged significant minutes with Shaw’s impacting the game with her tenth career goal for the USWNT.
Heaps Banger Alert 🚨
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) March 1, 2026
USWNT x @VW pic.twitter.com/0WNIoRq6Gw
“It’s such a talented group of young players,” Rose Lavelle said after the Canada win. “We have a lot of new players that maybe haven’t had this time or experience yet, but they don’t play like it. They play well beyond their years.”
Hayes went with a more experienced lineup against rival Canada, with stars like Lavelle featuring in a more prominent role. “She is our cookie crumble queen,” Hayes said about Lavelle’s leadership. “She’s our social butterfly, but she’s someone everybody respects for so many reasons, and I love that she’s leaning into this, too, because the team needs it.” Hayes referenced Lavelle’s ability to demonstrate a high standard of quality while also providing support for the newer players. “These players value so much the legacy of the players that came before them, leaving the shirt in a better place or making sure they’re passing on that institutional knowledge. Rose does it tremendously well.”
Lavelle, who has now appeared in 117 games for the USWNT, returns to the stadium of her first cap, which happened nearly nine years ago in SheBelieves when she played against England in a 1-0 loss. She has 27 goals and 27 assists for the national team and is fresh off a NWSL championship with her club Gotham FC. She scored the winner in the NWSL Championship, and U.S. Soccer named her the Women’s Player of the Year.
Emily Fox (Arsenal), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea), and Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United) all in mid-season form, started in the victory against Canada as did former Penn State Nittany Lion Sam Coffey, who’s role in central midfield alongside Heaps appears more solidified with each U.S. camp. Coffey joined Manchester City in late January. The three time NWSL Best-XI and league winner with Portland has now appeared over 40 times with the USWNT.
“As much as we’re happy for these wins, we can still learn and grow and get some goals in these games,” said Tullis-Joyce, who earned a clean sheet in her first SheBelieves appearance. Tullis-Joyce has been battling with Claudia Dickey and Mandy McGlynn for the U.S. no.1 spot.
The U.S. will face a Colombia side that is determined to crack the upper echelons of women’s soccer. Currently ranked twentieth in the world, Colombia defeated rival Argentina Wednesday night in Columbus but fell 4-1 to Canada Sunday in Nashville. Colombia reached the quarterfinals in the 2023 FIFA World Cup and has finished runners-up in the last two Copa Américas (2022,2025), falling to Brazil both times, most recently 5-4 on penalties after a thrilling 4-4 draw after extra time. They also reached the quarterfinals of the 2024 Olympics, falling to Spain on penalties.
Linda Caicedo, the young star who plays for Real Madrid, scored the game’s only goal with an assist from Washington Spirit’s Leicey Santos. Caicedo, age 21, burst onto the world stage at the World Cup when she scored in Colombia’s first two games, the second a 2-1 upset over Germany. She has 18 international goals in over 50 appearances. Santos, the veteran midfielder, has been a mainstay in the national team since first appearing at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She scored the lone goal in the loss to Canada, her 22nd at the senior level.
In addition to Santos, several other players on the Colombia squad are based in the NWSL. Jorelyn Carabali (Boston Legacy), Daniela Arias (San Diego Wave), and Valerin Loboa (Portland Thorns) have all played significant minutes in Colombia’s first two games.
The U.S. will have a short rest between games as they travel from Ohio to New Jersey to prepare for Colombia, and Hayes will be counting on her veterans like Lavelle to keep the team moving forward and bring the SheBelieves Cup back in American hands.
“Like any tournament, you have to have short-term memory,” Lavelle said. “This is a great win, and we have to build on it. But our focus is on Colombia, so we’ll take the learnings from this game and apply it to the next.”
Kickoff for USA vs Columbia is set for 3:30 p.m. The game will be presented on TBS, truTV, and HBO Max. Canada vs Argentina will kick off at 12:30 p.m.
