Cal Sports Report

Alex Morgan's Pretty Goal Helps U.S. Beat Brazil in Soccer

Former Cal star gets her 14th goal since becoming a mother and leads Americans to SheBelieves Cup victory

Jake Curtis

Former Cal star Alex Morgan scored the first goal on a beautiful curving strikes, helped the U.S. Women's Nation Team beat Brazil 2-1 in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday night to win the SheBelieves Cup for the fourth straight year.

Mallory Swanson also scored for the Americans, but it was Morgan's goal that got the U.S. team on its way to victory.

Morgan's curling, left-footed goal in the 45th minute was perfectly placed out of the reach of Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena.

The goal came just moments after Morgan appeared to score an earlier goal, but she was called for offsides in that instance.

The 33-year-old Morgan now has five career goals in SheBelieves matches. It also was her 14th goal since the birth of her daughter in 2020, giving her the national team record for most goals as a mother.

It was Morgan's 121st goal for the USWNT, leaving her in fifth place among the top USWNT goal scorers.

"That was huge,'' Swanson said of Morgan's goal, according to the Associated Press report. "I think we needed it, we needed the momentum to kind of shift in our favor. [It was] Alex doing Alex things. Simple, left foot, classic. She was getting beat up all first half and ultimately she punished them."

Swanson scored in the 63rd minute, her fourth goal of the tournament and seventh overall this year, matching her total for all of last year. Swanson was formerly Mallory Pugh before marrying Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson in December.

Brazil's only goal came in stoppage time.

The SheBelieves Cup started in 2016. The United States has won six of the eight tournaments.

Alex Morgan, with daughter Charlie, traded jerseys with a Brazilian player Ana Vitoria

Alex Morgan on Sunday with here daughter, Charlie. Photo by Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

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Cover photo of Alex Morgan by Chris Jones, USA TODAY Sports

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See also:

Cal Could Break a Pac-12 Basketball Record

Cal Defeats No. 2-Ranked Stanford in Baseball

Pac-12 NCAA Tourney Bids: USC Barely In; Oregon, ASU Still Close

Max Homa Moves into Top 10 of World Rankings After Finishing  Second at The Genesis

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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