Washington Huskies graduate Hope Solo has had her ups and downs. After allowing two early goals to France that nearly put them at a disadvantage to start the tournament, Solo maintained a clean sheet for most of the rest of the tournament, she conceded no goals. She gave up nothing to Colombia, North Korea, or New Zealand in fairly undramatic but solid victories for the United States. However, Solo had no answer for Christine Sinclair in the semifinals against Canada, giving up three goals and three separate leads that nearly sealed things for the USA. Solo and the USA backline will need to improve quite a bit to get victory in the last contest.
To get that gold, the US Women's soccer team will have to face Japan in the final. Japan frustrated the USA with their small-ball and quick, decisive passing that allowed them to come back and tie the game twice (once in regular time, again in extra time). Current Sounders star Alex Morgan had a crucial goal early against Japan and distributed another, and she will probably have to put up a big game along with Solo if the USA expects to advance.
NBCOlympics.com will be live-streaming the event. The match is scheduled to start around 11:45 AM PT and can be viewed on the NBC Sports Network and NBC's Olympic Soccer Channel.
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