The 2025 SheBelieves Cup is in the rearview. For the first time in six years, the tournament trophy did not end up in the United States’ possession. Instead, Japan took top honors after a 2-1 win over the USWNT on Wednesday in San Diego.
However, this wasn’t the type of U.S. camp that would be deemed a failure or success by results alone. Head coach Emma Hayes selected plenty of her player pool’s more untested members to size up their readiness for her best possible squad.
“I always go back to what our objectives were in the first place — and that was to deepen our playing pool with opportunities in high-pressure situations against top opponents, and that’s what tonight especially was about,” Hayes said after the match. “From that perspective, it was mission accomplished.”
With 270 minutes of evidence to study, here are the players who stepped up, those who left us wanting more and those still waiting to strengthen their cases.
Who impressed?
Ally Sentnor
While Japan’s Mina Tanaka had the SheBelieves Cup MVP on lock for much of the tournament, forward Sentnor may have been the USWNT’s leading candidate for the award — and it wouldn’t have been down to just her incredible golazo against Colombia, either.
The challenge for Sentnor is the crowded forward pool. Despite adding a second goal against Japan, a class finish off a feed from Cat Macario, Sentnor’s really going to have to fight to stay in the mix among Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Sophia Wilson. Sentnor likely did enough to book a trip to California in April for the Brazil friendlies, but if the starting forward line is back, her mission becomes ensuring she capitalizes on her chances as a second-half substitute.
“Ally has demonstrated in her rise through the youth national teams and in her first pro year (with the Royals) that she’s got qualities that can decide a game,” Hayes said after the loss to Japan. “She certainly finishes the very minimal chances she might get, and that’s what top players possess. I think she’s got that, and it will build her confidence to have had this tournament and be given a couple of starts.”
Tara McKeown
While Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson established themselves as a strong partnership in the Olympics, there is still space for newcomers to work into Hayes’ plans at center back. McKeown earned her first appearance with the team this tournament. While both Colombia and Japan seemed eager to attack her side of the back line in their first halves, McKeown largely looked the part. She also played a line-breaking assist to Sentnor for the forward’s unforgettable first international goal — a reminder of her ability to help in possession.
McKeown rejoins the Washington Spirit ready to further her case for USWNT inclusion.
“I’m sure she will have learned a lot about anything from her build-up angles and how you break pressure against the best opponents, to recognizing at the top, top level, games are usually decided by very marginal moments,” Hayes said Wednesday — stressing that it was a learning moment not just for McKeown but for the whole team.
Catarina Macario
At long last, the Chelsea forward reunited with her old club coach. Injuries kept Macario off of the USWNT’s squads for the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics, but the 25-year-old figures to be a major part of Hayes’ plans moving forward. She showcased how she can change a game across her two appearances, capping a great team sequence in the opener for her first international goal since April 12, 2022.
She later played a crisp assist to Sentnor against Japan that resulted in the USWNT’s lone goal.
Hayes said after the tournament that Macario had shown “moments of brilliance,” but still was not at full fitness. Opponents, be warned.
Lily Yohannes
The hype train for Yohannes was full steam ahead after the USWNT’s opening match against Colombia, even as Hayes urged everyone to give the 17-year-old time and space to develop. Yohannes got the start against Japan — a sign of Hayes’s trust in the biggest game of the tournament — but they were far more effective at containing Yohannes, especially when it came to mid- and long-range passing.
As Hayes said, despite her talent, Yohannes is still developing. Wednesday night showed that there’s still plenty of room for progress against a top team, even with the statement game she had in the USWNT opener against Colombia.
“(Yui) Hasegawa in the middle of the park is probably the best pivot in the world at both the domestic and international level,” Hayes said. “And our pivot is 17 years of age and has played in three caps. So we have to be patient too, in our expectations.”
Yazmeen Ryan
Ryan played more of a supporting role when she was with Gotham FC. She’ll get that leading woman opportunity in her first season with the Houston Dash, but the selfless elements that made her invaluable with Gotham also put her in good stead for this USWNT camp.
Ryan was a proactive carrier upfield to help the United States progress. Her interplay with Macario and Sentnor was especially sharp against Colombia.
Hayes also thought Ryan had her share of moments, both in terms of her passing and distribution and her ability to carry the ball upfield. But Hayes focused primarily on how to develop Ryan to unlock her next level, which included her defensive play, figuring out when to press and when to hold her position.
“I think there’s another layer of learning for her,” Hayes concluded, “but she’s shown some really good signs and shown, once again, the quality in her execution.”
Who missed the moment?
Goalkeepers
It’s never easy to follow up a program legend, and it’s clear that the current pool of USWNT goalkeeping options have big gloves to fill after Alyssa Naeher’s retirement. Jane Campbell and Mandy McGlynn were given the first opportunities in net after Naeher’s exit, and neither made an emphatic case to keep a hold of the No. 1 jersey for the foreseeable future.
Campbell misread the run-up to Japan’s early opener and took herself out of the play by running into teammate Emily Sonnett. On the second goal, her brilliant save on a free kick put the ball directly back into an opponent’s path, making it all too easy on the eventual tournament winner.
McGlynn conceded just once against Australia, but her positioning was clumsy as she was in two minds about whether to close down the shooter or get a strong positioning for a reflex save.
“Our job is to keep pushing and developing,” Hayes said of her goalkeepers after the Japan match, “and time will reveal where they both are. But I know I’ve been in this situation a lot of times in my career. I value patience in development, and I know that we have a plan, and it’s important for us to keep developing — as we are.”
The mainstays from the 2019 squad
With so many new faces in camp, Hayes was careful to balance their inexperience with some USWNT regulars to maintain continuity as they acclimated. These veterans were expected to put in consistent shifts to account for varying forms among their less-tested teammates. Unfortunately, the old guard also struggled in some crucial areas, especially those who remain from the 2019 world champions.
Lindsey Heaps looked especially frustrated in her games against Colombia and Japan. Playing as a No. 10, the Lyon midfielder sometimes gummed up the United States’ sequences as they entered the final third, getting in the way of her midfield’s progressive passing and trying to run into the same spaces as her center forward. The United States captain tried to make an impact aerially and by being in the position to play the final ball, but these were far from her best shifts to date.
Sonnett’s poorly timed slip helped gift Japan a clear shot for the opening goal, but the all-time SheBelieves minutes leader was otherwise her usually dependable self most often. The same can’t be said for Crystal Dunn, whose lack of playing time since the Paris Olympics was evident as she made unusual mistakes by her standard.
Despite her 157 caps, this felt like a camp in which Dunn was fighting for her spot in Hayes’ plans for the 2027 World Cup cycle. Dunn will likely stay part of the mix in this time of transition, but she’ll need to make more of an impact in future camps.
Ones for the future
Hal Hershfelt
Thanks to a stellar rookie year for the Spirit, Hershfelt had pried open a path into the USWNT midfield. Despite making the roster for the January training camp, Hershfelt didn’t get the nod for SheBelieves Cup. That may have been in part due to the return of multiple European-based players, but Hayes also opted to take a look at Claire Hutton this go-round.
Hershfelt still offers the USWNT real bite in the midfield and a knack for winning aerial duels all over the pitch, including on set pieces. While it feels unlikely that the window has been shut on future call-ups, this felt like the exact type of camp for a player like Hershfelt to shine.
Phallon Tullis-Joyce
Hayes opted for two goalkeepers on her squad in exchange for an additional field player, keeping Tullis-Joyce in camp as a training option. It was unfortunate that we weren’t able to see how the Manchester United netminder could have fared in tandem with the new wave of defenders, as her form in the Women’s Super League has been among the best of any player at her position.
Still, Hayes assured that Tullis-Joyce would eventually get a shot in goal for her team.
“This is just her second camp, she’s still getting to know people,” Hayes said, noting they’ve been keeping tabs on her performances with Manchester United and the areas they’d like to see improvement. “I’m sure Phallon will get her opportunities with us, but the other two (Campbell and McGlynn) have been around the group a little bit longer and built those connections and those relationships. Phallon will get her turn.”
More new kids
Hutton, Gisele Thompson and Emma Sears all got limited opportunities through these three matches, though all three started against Australia. With massive rotation from Hayes in that match, changing all 11 players from the tournament opener (just the sixth time it’s ever happened in program history), cohesion was always going to be a tall ask.
The USWNT will at least have some individual tape for these players, and more for Sears, but Hutton probably came the closest to standing out in the Australia match. Former USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski has relied on the 19-year-old defensive midfielder as the backbone of the Kansas City Current’s success, but much as Hayes has preached patience across the board, a solid performance against the current iteration of the Matildas isn’t the same level as a solid performance against Japan or Colombia.
None of them should be worried about their standing with the USWNT, but all three are still in the early stages of being dropped into this environment and tested at the highest level.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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