U.S. women stride into to World Cup quarterfinals

It was a tearful ending for the Colombian women’s soccer World Cup run after the United States triumphed 2-0 during knockout rounds and advanced to the quarterfinals.

Though ugly, the U.S. squad mustered the victory with goals from Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd in the second half along with help from the 10-player Colombian squad.

Colombia’s starting goalkeeper Catalina Perez received a red card as a result of her slide-tackling Morgan on a breakaway run inside the penalty box. Backup goalkeeper Stefany Castano replaced Perez to face U.S. captain Abby Wambach in the box. Much to Castano’s relief, Wambach’s powerful shot drifted wide of the left post.

Castano’s sigh of relief didn’t last long, as Morgan quickly returned the ball to the right side of the box and a line-drive of a shot deflected off Castano’s hand, beating her at the near post and gave the U.S. the lead.

U.S. midfielder Carli Lloyd stepped to the penalty spot in the 65th minute after a foul on midfielder Megan Rapinoe, putting home the second goal and seal the win for the women’s squad.

The favorites entering the match, the U.S. was flawless on the defensive end, stretching their 2015 World Cup shutout to 333 straight minutes. But disorganization reigned throughout the offense, with Wambach’s missed penalty and an earlier goal taken away on a Wambach offsides call.

The U.S. sent shots forward past the Colombian defense but could not connect during the scoreless first half. The U.S. led possession 53 percent to Colombia’s 47 percent but had only four more shots on goal than their opposition, and managed five more shots in total.

One area the U.S. d0minated was in total fouls, 22 to Colombia’s 10. The team took a blow to the stomach when Rapinoe was caught with her hand in the cookie jar and was whistled for a foul (41’). Midfielder Lauren Holiday (17’) received her second yellow card of the tournament as well, which disqualifies both players ability from the quarterfinals against China.

The U.S. face China in the quarterfinals on June 26 at 4:30 p.m. PT in Ottawa. Fans can watch the live broadcast on FOX and NBC Universo.