USA vs. Australia: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Women's Soccer World Cup

Megan Rapinoe notched a brace and Hope Solo made a number of key saves as the United States defeated Australia, 3-1, Monday night in Winnipeg to kick off its 2015 Women's World Cup campaign.

Expectations for the U.S. couldn't be much higher for this year's tournament. Anything less than a World Cup title would be a disappointment for many fans.

"The expectation has hardened this team," said United States coach Jill Ellis before the match, per the Guardian's Anna Kessel. "They have steel because that’s what they’re used to: the responsibility to their country."

The win wasn't necessarily the most convincing of results, but the points count all the same as the United States positioned itself well to advance out of a tough Group D.

With the World Cup in Canada, Australia was basically playing in hostile territory, as a number of U.S. fans made the trip north to Winnipeg. NBC Sports' Jeff Kassouf commented that the American contingent inside Investors Group Field was making its voice heard:

The Australians looked unfazed by the atmosphere, though. They needed all of five minutes to launch their first major attack. Elise Kellond-Knight ran in from the left and tried to cross the ball back to a teammate. Julie Johnston deflected the pass right into the path of Emily Van Egmond, but Solo was there to make a diving save, tipping Van Egmond's shot off the crossbar to eliminate the threat.

Sports Illustrated's Liviu Bird felt the nature of the cross added to the difficulty of Solo's stop:

"

Important save from Solo on van Egmond. Cutback crosses very difficult to deal with. Most dangerous ball in the game. | #USA 0-0 #AUS | 6'

— Liviu Bird (@liviubird) June 8, 2015"

Although the U.S. defense was under heavy pressure to start the match, Rapinoe put her team ahead against the run of play in the 12th minute. She and the United States got a bit lucky on the goal, as Australian defender Laura Alleway deflected Rapinoe's shot, which completely wrong-footed goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the United States was—and still is—unbeaten in the Women's World Cup when getting on the board first:

The goal offered little respite for the U.S., though, as Australia continued pushing numbers forward with success.

In the 13th minute, Samantha Kerr got in behind the American defense and received a perfectly floated ball over the top from Lisa De Vanna. Solo somehow made the save to preserve the United States' lead.

Australia had been knocking on the door since the opening whistle, and in the 27th minute, De Vanna finally kicked it in. Michelle Heyman put the ball on a tee for De Vanna with what looked to be an inadvertent pass, and the Melbourne Victory striker placed her left-footed shot into the bottom right corner, past a diving Solo.

De Vanna picked the perfect way to commemorate hitting the century mark for national team appearances, per BBC Sport:

Nobody could argue with the score line, as Australia was the clear aggressor and could've been up 2-1 or even 3-1 by the time De Vanna found the back of the net.

The United States only created one more solid scoring opportunity before halftime. Rapinoe curled a beautiful free kick into the 18-yard box, but Abby Wambach wasted the chance when she couldn't time her header, and the American threat evaporated.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated was far from impressed by what he saw from the U.S. in the first 45 minutes:

Fox Sports' Alexi Lalas praised Solo for almost single-handedly keeping her team in the match:

Although things looked bad, FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver and ESPN's Paul Carr presented some numbers that offered U.S. fans hope that a win was within reach:

The numbers didn't lie, as Christen Press put the U.S. ahead with a goal in the 61st minute. Sydney Leroux deserves a lot of credit for the goal, as her run from the left attracted the attention of the Australian defense and created space for Press to open up her body and slide a right-footed shot inside the far post.

Goal's Ives Galarcep argued the goal highlighted what kind of roles both Leroux and Press should play in the attack going forward:

In the 78th minute, Rapinoe put the match out of reach for Australia with the United States' third goal. It was a great piece of individual play from the Seattle Reign midfielder. She was given a lot of space down the left and remained patient on the ball as she waited for just the right opportunity to unleash a shot. Barbieri, who was guarding her near post, couldn't react in time to stop Rapinoe's powerful left-footed effort.

Australia's performance clearly dipped the longer the match went on. Fox Sports' Kyle McCarthy credited the United States' pre-tournament training and preparation for ensuring the players would have enough energy for a full 90-minute match:

Securing a victory Monday is huge for the United States. Many consider Group D to be the most difficult of the World Cup, and following Sweden's draw with Nigeria, the U.S. is already that much closer to the knockout stage with three points.

Another positive development was a cameo by Alex Morgan, who entered the match in the 79th minute. Morgan is arguably the United States' best striker, but because of injury issues, her status for the World Cup has been somewhat in doubt.

She's probably at least another match or two away from starting, but seeing her work her way back onto the pitch is promising for the U.S.

The United States will play Sweden in its next match, while Australia gets Nigeria, with both fixtures scheduled for Friday. 

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