Full Field Tussle

The U.S. team ended the on-field portion of training camp this morning with an 11 v. 11 full-field match (the team will hit the weight room tomorrow morning before departing for China tomorrow night) with players battling for roster spots during the intense 90-minute tussle. Due to the heavy overnight rains, practice was pushed to the Field Turf pitch at The Home Depot Center, which didn’t help the player’s heavy legs. In a match that featured some big-time collisions (mostly involving Abby Wambach), the blue team beat the yellow team, 2-0, on goals from Carli Lloyd (off a nice assist from Tina DiMartino) and Lindsay Tarpley. The players go at it for real on Jan. 16 when they open the year against a familiar foe in Canada and the team will have about five days to adjust to the time change in China before hitting the field for the first match of the year.