On a cool night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., the U.S. women’s national team didn’t just beat Japan, it looked like itself again.And at the very center of their 3-0 score was defender Kennedy Wesley.After a scoreless first half, Wesley set up Naomi Girma in the 47th minute, who calmly finished at the back post. Seventeen minutes later, Wesley’s moment came — she got on the scoresheet after meeting a corner from Jaedyn Shaw for her first international goal. In between, Rose Lavelle delivered a stunner that kept the momentum firmly on the U.S. side.The 25-year-old center back from California, who currently plays for the San Diego Wave, delivered exactly the kind of all-action performance Emma Hayes demands from her squad: a breakout display that helped drive the U.S. past a technically sharper, more cohesive Japan team.“[Japan’s] players are extremely technical, and their positional play model has been developed from very early ages,” Hayes told reporters before the match.

“I think traditionally against the United States, you would see Japan dominant in possession, the United States dominant in the encounter attack. I think the roles have reversed, and I think by that, I think defensively, I think Japan is the best team in the world.”But they could not clinch this time.From the opening whistle, the USWNT’s tempo was relentless. After losing Tuesday’s friendly against Japan, with Colorado-born Lindsey Heaps at the helm, the midfield pressed high.

Despite two members of the “Triple Espresso” trio — Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman — on the front line rotation looking for opportunity, it was a midfielder and center backs who ultimately brought Hayes’s side the victory.“We’ve gone through different stages over these three game series, and today was the day where we hit the sweet spot with it,” Hayes said post-match. “This team is so outcome-driven, so when we lose, they are so fatalistic. I tell them that nobody becomes a top chef or a top World Cup winner without collective experience.

We know the highs and lows of winning and losing, but if we’re solely obsessed with that, I can’t see how we’re going to get better. I always want to lose sometimes to see what this one looks like.”The USWNT defeated the Nadeshiko 2-1 on Saturday, April 11, before Japan evened the score with a 1-0 win on Tuesday, April 14. The team is heading to Brazil in June for the next international window and will play again back home in October.Hayes said these windows are crucial in defining her squad for the World Cup.“It’s a little bit like graduating from university,” she explained.

“We’re in our sophomore year. I think we’re passing all of our tests with a mixture of colors. I think in order to prepare for that dissertation and that final exam that will come next year, we have to keep studying, and we have to keep applying it.

And that’s the bottom line.“You do not become elite by dreaming about it; you have to work so hard at it. Every one of us will work so hard to make sure we are in the best place possible.”This article originally appeared in The Athletic.US Women's national team, Women's Soccer2026 The Athletic Media Company