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The US Women have officially been eliminated from The Soccer Tournament, losing to both Say Word FC and Wrexham Red Dragons on Thursday, June 1.
The US Women’s team — which was comprised of former USWNT players, organized by three-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Heather O’Reilly and coached by USWNT legend Mia Hamm — struggled in each of their two outings. They gave up 17 goals in the tournament and scored none.
Their defeat at the hands of Wrexham was a 12-0 drubbing that saw the Red Dragons score five times in the first 14 minutes of action. Lee Trundle recorded four goals for the Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney-owned club.
The Soccer Tournament was created by the founders of The Basketball Tournament. “TST” is a high-stakes 7×7 World Cup-style event with $1 million on the line.
Thirty-two teams from eight different countries were in the mix, including 23 former players from the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams with nearly 1,400 matches of combined experience, according to NBC Sports, for the inaugural event in Cary, N.C.
⚽🚨THE TST 2023 FULL FIELD AND GROUPS ARE SET🚨⚽ pic.twitter.com/wtHXwTnugQ
— TST (@TST7v7) May 4, 2023
Other notable players involved in the inaugural tournament include former NBA star Steve Nash (on Como 1907), ex-NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco (on Nati SC) and former MLS academy product-turned-influencer Noah Beck (on Borussia Dortmund).
MORE: What is The Soccer Tournament? Prize money, rules, teams & more to know
The Sporting News tracked the US Women vs. Wrexham match in The Soccer Tournament. Below are the highlights and results from the game.
US Women vs. Wrexham score
| 1st half | 2nd half | Target score time | Final | |
| US Women | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wrexham | 7 | 4 | 1 | 12 |
US Women vs. Wrexham live updates, highlights from The Soccer Tournament
Target score time: Wrexham 12, USW 0
42′-ish: Jarvis sinks it within a minute or two of no-time target scoring and ends the game immediately, 12-0. The US Women have been eliminated from the tournament with two losses on day one.
41′: Rules for target score time:
- Target score is set as leading team’s score plus one, so in this case, it’s first to 12 wins, but a player is removed every five minutes until they hit the target score.
2nd half (40′): Wrexham 11, USW 0
38′: The US with a counter, but the shot goes wide off the foot and nothing is gained. That’s a total of 16 games given up across their two games today.
36′: Trundle with his fourth to put Wrexham up 11-nil.
35′: 10 goals thanks to perfect contact from Daniel Jarvis. It’s not even a competition at this point…
33′: Filip Mirkovic gets one past Harris and adds another to Wrexham’s list.
30′: The announcers compare Lindsay Harris’ saves to that of a hockey goalie. She’s powering through them. She could fully get a call from the NWSL after this performance — she’s currently playing in Portugal for Damaiense.
Lindsey Harris has made some incredible saves tonight for @USWomenTST ! pic.twitter.com/9LsphcY68g
— TST (@TST7v7) June 2, 2023
26′: Another goal for Wrexham by George Boyd. The US Women have not responded to all 8 of Wrexham’s goals.
Half: “We’re super proud, so happy to be here at this event. Hopefully we’ve proven to anybody, just go for it, just live. What’s the worst thing that could happen? We could lose 16-0 to Wrexham? We don’t care. We’re living, we’re being bold, we’re being brave,” Heather O’Reilly said.
“What’s the worst that could happen? We lose 16-0 to Wrexham? We don’t care because we’re living, we’re being bold, we’re being brave.”@HeatherOReilly knows the result isn’t everything. 🙌
📺: @TST7v7 on @peacock pic.twitter.com/ZOkLOAzEpE— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) June 2, 2023
1st half (20′): Wrexham 7, USW 0
18′: Two more goals, one a hat trick by Lee Trundle to put Wrexham up 7-nil as the first half comes to an end. This is a transition game and a lot of these women have been retired for a while. Without the training, they’re having a harder time keeping pace.
The respect between Lee Trundle & Lindsey Harris. 🤝
📺: @TST7v7 on @peacock pic.twitter.com/y0Oajj5zFB
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) June 2, 2023
16′: Four saves in a row for Lindsay Harris in the US Women’s goal.
14′: Wrexham scores 5-0 on the US Women. There’s still five minutes left in the first half.
What a start for @Wrexham_AFC!
They score two QUICK goals against the US Women.
📺: @TST7v7 on @peacock pic.twitter.com/A9uo9OaPLn— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) June 2, 2023
40 mins to KO: The US Women face what is virtually a must-win against the Wrexham Red Dragons in the second round of Group E matches. If they don’t pull this off, there’s a likely chance they’ll be eliminated — only the top two teams in each group advance to the knockout rounds on Friday.
There are a host of unique rules in TST, including no offside, no slide tackles, no throw-ins and a final period in which one of the teams needs to reach a target score to win.
45 mins to KO: Wrexham completed one of the improbable comebacks of the group stage, coming back in Target Score Time to turn a 2-0 deficit after regulation into a 3-2 win.
THE @Wrexham_AFC RED DRAGONS COME BACK FROM DOWN 2-0 TO BEAT COMO 1907 IN TARGET SCORE TIME!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/iVLEYgwsal
— TST (@TST7v7) June 1, 2023
1 hour to KO: These were the sights and sounds from the US Women’s first match in the morning session:
Let’s do it again tonight, @USWomenTST fans. 🤩
U.S. Women take on the Wrexham Red Dragons at 8EDT. pic.twitter.com/1sdXflXnB6
— TST (@TST7v7) June 1, 2023
US Women lineup
The US Women are coached by American soccer legends Mia Hamm and Michelle Akers, who’s serving as GM. The team is captained by another longtime USWNT player in Heather O’Reilly. Cat Whitehill, Lori Lindsey, and Kristine Lilly are some of the other familiar national team names in the squad.
Goalkeepers: 23-Lindsey Harris
Defenders: 2-Kendall Fletcher, 4-Cat Whitehill, 7-Schuyler DeBree, 15-Nikki Phiilips, 17-Lori Lawson, 71-Hanna Gardner
Midfielders: 5-Nicole Baxter, 6-Lori Lindsey, 9-Heather O’Reilly, 11-Joanna Lohman, 13-Kristine Lilly, 21-Kacey White
Forwards: 19-Stephanie McCaffrey, 27-Casey Loyd, 47-Alexandra Kimball
Wrexham Red Dragons lineup
The three goal scorers for Wrexham in their 3-2 comeback win over Como were David Jones, Louis Lloyd, and George Boyd, who got the winner to end the game. Goalkeeper Mark Howard came up with several stops throughout to keep his team in it. Lloyd and Howard are active players with the Wrexham side that won promotion to the English 4th division.
Goalkeepers: 1-Mark Howard
Defenders: 4-Scott Butler, 5-Nicholas Cavallo,
Midfielders: 2-Daniel Jones, 3-Filip Mirkovic, 6-Liam Grimshaw, 8-Paul Rutherford, 11-George Boyd, 12-Daniel Jarvis, 13-Mark Carrington, 14-David Jones
Forwards: 7-Louis Lloyd, 9-Andrew Morrell, 10-Lee Trundle
MORE: All the big stars playing in The Soccer Tournament
TST Group E standings
| Team | Games | Wins | Losses | Goals For |
Goals Against |
Goal Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Say Word FC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 |
| 2. Wrexham Red Dragons | 1 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 2 | +1 |
| 3. Como 1907 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 |
| 4. US Women | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | -5 |
US Women vs. Wrexham start time
- Date: Thursday, June 1
- Start time: 8 p.m. ET
The US Women and Wrexham both had games earlier in the day Thursday against Say Word FC, a team paying homage to North Carolina and historically Black colleges and universities, and Como 1907, from Italy’s second tier, respectively. The four teams are in Group E together.
Now, the US Women and Wrexham will meet on the field at 8 p.m. ET in Cary, N.C., in the 7×7 soccer tournament.
MORE: Wrexham USA summer tour 2023: Matches vs Manchester United, Chelsea, LA Galaxy II
How to watch The Soccer Tournament
- TV channel: CNBC (championship game)
- Live stream: Peacock, TST YouTube channel
The US Women vs. Wrexham match can be watched live on Peacock, along with seven other matches Thursday. The Peacock schedule includes (all times ET):
- Dortmund vs. Hoosier Army, 9 a.m.
- Far East UTD vs. West Ham, 10:30 a.m.
- US Women vs. Say Word FC, noon
- Como 1907 vs. Wrexham Red Dragons, 1:30 p.m.
- Blade & Grass FC vs. Wolves, 5 p.m.
- Dallas United vs. West Ham, 6:30 p.m.
- US Women vs. Wrexham Red Dragons, 8 p.m.
- Sneaky Fox vs. Team Dempsey, 9:30 p.m.
Other games will be broadcast on The Soccer Tournament’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
Here’s the FULL TST Group Play streaming schedule:
🟡 – Peacock
🔴 – TST’s YouTube page
🔵 – TST’s Facebook page
TST STARTS IN 3 DAYS! pic.twitter.com/2CcFvCFgPJ
— TST (@TST7v7) May 29, 2023
The Soccer Tournament schedule 2023
- Dates: Thursday, June 1-Sunday, June 4
Below is the full schedule for The Soccer Tournament.
| Round | # of games | Date | Time (ET) |
| Group play | 32 | Thursday, June 1 | 9 a.m.-10:15 p.m. |
| Group play | 15 | Friday, June 2 | 9 a.m.-2 p.m. |
| Knockout round | 8 | Friday, June 2 | 6-11 p.m. |
| Quarterfinals | 4 | Friday, June 2 | 12-4:45 p.m. |
| Semifinals | 2 | Saturday, June 3 | 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. |
| Championship | 1 | Sunday, June 4 | 3 p.m. |
Simon Borg contributed to this article.
