US too good for shorthanded Reggae Girlz

ST LOUIS (AP):

ALLY SENTNOR and Lynn Biyendolo each scored two goals, and the United States beat Jamaica 4-0 last night after formally honouring longtime defender Becky Sauerbrunn.

Sentnor scored in the 19th minute then formed a heart with her hands in celebration. She scored her second off a deflection 10 minutes later.

The 21-year-old 2024 US Soccer Young Player of the Year, who now has four international goals, credited her teammates.

“They’re really easy to play with at moving the ball,” Sentnor said. “I’m still trying to work to get better for them.”

Biyendolo scored in the 60th minute, three minutes after coming into the game as a substitute. She added a second in the 88th minute off a cross from Avery Patterson. Biyendolo has 24 career goals.

Phallon Tullis-Joyce made her second consecutive start in goal for the United States as coach Emma Hayes looks for a successor to longtime goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who retired last year. It was her third straight clean sheet.

Jamaica, who have never beaten the US, started two sets of sisters — Allyson and Chantelle Swaby and Kalyssa and Amelia Van Zanten.

The US were coming off a 3-0 victory over China on Saturday in St Paul, Minnesota. The national team was originally scheduled to play a pair of matches against China, but Chinese officials in April pulled out of the second game and Jamaica filled the spot.

Before the game, the United States honoured Sauerbrunn, who retired from football late last year.

The St Louis native, whose international career spanned 16 years, is a two-time Women’s World Cup winner and an Olympic gold medallist. Fans, who received a bobblehead in her image, gave her a standing ovation and chanted her name in a pregame ceremony.

Sauerbrunn, who recently announced that she is expecting her first child with partner Zola Short, also served in her new role as a television commentator for the match.

The United States next plays a pair of matches against Ireland, the first on June 26 in Commerce City, Colorado, and the second on June 29 in Cincinnati. The US will also play Canada on July 6 in Washington D.C.

The Reggae Girlz could be forgiven for the underwhelming performance, the two-time World Cup qualifiers missing a number of key players.

In midfield there was no Drew Spence, Jade Bailey-Gayle, and their talismanic striker Khadija Shaw has been injured for the last part of her season with Manchester City.

The Reggae Girlz coach was also absent, with assistant, former Reggae Boy Deon Burton, stepping in to fill the breach.

The Reggae Girlz next assignment is against England next month.