USWNT sweeps Republic of Ireland on Alana Cook goal

Alana Cook scored on her birthday to lead the U.S. Women’s National Team to a 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland and a two-game sweep in front of a packed house at Citypark in St. Louis.

Cook beat the Irish keeper with a long searching ball that found the back of the net just before halftime.

It would prove to be the only goal on a night when Becky Sauerbrunn celebrated her 200th cap milestone in front of her hometown fans and 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson impressed in her first start.

Sellersville native Marissa Sheva made her second straight start to earn her third cap for the Republic of Ireland, which played the U.S. pretty evenly throughout in a match where each team had just two shots on target. The U.S. won 2-0 four nights earlier in Austin FC. Havertown native Sinead Farrelly wasn’t in the team after making her debut for Ireland in Austin.

Up next, the U.S. will play their World Cup send-off on July 9 in San Jose before heading to New Zealand. The Republic of Ireland will host Zambia on June 26 and France on July 6 prior to leaving for Australia. The World Cup will be played in New Zealand Australia from July 20 to August 20.

Lineups:

USA: 18-Casey Murphy; 3-Sofia Huerta, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (Capt.) (12-Tierna Davidson, 29), 15-Alana Cook, 5-Kelley O’Hara (20-Casey Krueger, 46); 17-Andi Sullivan (8-Julie Ertz, 46), 10-Lindsey Horan (22-Kristie Mewis, 60), 2-Ashley Sanchez; 11-Sophia Smith (25-Trinity Rodman, 46), 13-Alex Morgan (7-Ashley Hatch, 46), 28-Alyssa Thompson

Substitutes not used: 1-Alyssa Naeher, 6-Lynn Williams, 14-Emily Sonnett, 19-Crystal Dunn, 23-Emily Fox, 27-Naomi Girma

Head coach: Vlatko Andonovski

IRL:1-Courtney Brosnan; 14-Heather Payne (26-Tara O’Hanlon, 84), 6-Megan Connolly, 4-Louise Quinn, 7-Diane Caldwell (19-Hayley Nolan, 58), 11-Katie McCabe (Capt.); 15-Lucy Quinn (12-Roma McLaughlin, 69), 10-Denise O’Sullivan, 8-Ruesha Littlejohn (21-Ciara Grant, 58), 24-Marissa Sheva (13-Áine O’Gorman, 69); 22-Kyra Carusa (9-Amber Barrett, 85)

Substitutes not used: 16-Grace Moloney, 23-Megan Walsh, 27-Sophie Whitehouse, 2-Harriet Scott, 3-Jessie Stapleton, 5-Claire O’Riordan, 17-Jamie Finn, 18-Alannah McEvoy, 20-Abbie Larkin

Head coach: Vera Pauw